Animal I Have Become
by Icy Frost
Summary: Caiden's family has disappeared. His body and mind have both gone to hell. In a city once dominated by thousands, there is but one person who can help tame the monster growing within him. The question stands: Can this enigma be trusted? SmokerxHunter R
1. The Beginning

Author's Note: Hey guys, I know it's been a while. But in my temporary absence, I stumbled upon a wonderful little game called Left 4 Dead and liked the characters so much that I decided to try my hand at a story about them. This is SmokerxHunter, and the characters could be considered OCs I suppose. But nevermind you that, sit back, relax, and enjoy! By the way, this is boyxboy, yaoi, whatever you want to call it. Don't like, don't read. By the way, this is inspired by the song of the same name by Three Days Grace. Just in case you were wondering. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead or any of the characters associated with it.

Animal I Have Become

It's been three days.

Three days since the pains started. Three days since the burning, the sickness. He found that he practically lived in the bathroom; unable to truly leave the ceramic bowl because the urge to push whatever remained in his thoroughly harassed stomach out of his body was so strong. But a lot had happened in those three days.

His parents had vanished, along with his little sister. They intended to go out to eat for his little sister's birthday, they said, as he lay in bed stricken with fever. That stumbling woman had bit him.. he thought nothing of it, but he couldn't help but be a bit perturbed. After all, why would someone bite as a first defense? Not that he had really been threatening her.. She'd stood in the middle of the street, looking mindless, lost, dragging crooked feet along in broken high heels. Her clothing was tattered and bloodied, body shuddering with each step. He'd been uneasy when he approached her at first, and it hadn't taken long for his gut feeling to be justified.

"_Ma'am? Ma'am, are you alright?" _

_The night was dark. Pitch black; no sign of a moon. The street lights intermittently flickered, and it struck the him as a bit suspicious. He stared up at the towering poles and then back to the woman, who still stood with her back facing him. "Ma'am..?" He tried again. No response._

_The closer he stepped to the woman, the more apprehension he felt. She bore long slashes in her light pink dress suit, stockings long since stripped from her once shapely legs. Now they were ghostly pale—almost sickly—dripping dark, congealed blood from fresh cuts and littered with ugly, yellowish bruises. Shuffling along carefully behind her, he reached out and gripped her shoulder, heartbeat hammering in his ears. Something in him told him to turn away, to mind his own business like he usually would have._

But as soon as he touched her, all hell broke loose.

_Swirling, straggly, grimy hair framing her face and making her pupil-less eyes seem just that much larger, she turned, let out a guttural growl, and lunged for him. Taken off guard by the sudden turn of events, he didn't have time to defend himself as she charged, swinging fists with surprising strength, all the while hissing and moaning like no human being should._

"_What the fuck, lady?! Get offa me!" He screeched himself, kicking at her as she knocked him to the ground, blood dripping from her gaping mouth down onto her already-soiled front. Before he managed a single blow to her skinny form, she grabbed the arm he was using to defend himself from her vicious attack, and sunk her teeth in so deeply that he could swear he felt his bone start to crack._

_With a punch that freed him from beneath her and a rushed, silencing kick to her head that left her crumbled lifelessly on the street, he was on his feet and sprinting back down the desolate street, confused, disoriented, and in immense pain. Arriving home, he ducked his mother's maternal concern and fled upstairs immediately to his room, injured arm cradled to his chest._

"_Caiden!" She called up the stairs. But he ignored her, locking his door and collapsing against the cool wood._

_That was the last time he was going out in the middle of the night to buy a fucking video game._

Caiden never told his parents about the bite. Even as he watched it grow over the last three days, the varicose veins spreading like swollen spider webs and framing the yellowing bite. And even as his health started to noticeably deteriorate. His mother, despite her mild prying about 'that night', never really suspected that anything was seriously wrong with her son. She dismissed it as a bad cold and gave him the needed remedies. Her chicken soup used to quell even the most stubborn illness, but the one that had taken control of Caiden remained undaunted. They'd all heard about that sickness – the 'Green Flu', was it? But nobody in their neighborhood took it very seriously. It was a mild biological threat that would never touch their perfect lives, never break apart picturesque homes. He wished now that his parents hadn't been so nonchalant.

His family disappeared on the second day. As he lay on the cold tiling of the bathroom floor, Caiden remembered the last thing his mother had promised. _"Keep taking your medicine," _She'd said, kissing his forehead. _"We'll be back by nine at the latest." _

Nine 'o clock passed, and then ten. If he hadn't felt like absolute shit, he might have tried call, text, _something. _But his insides burned with a raging inferno that he had never felt before in his nineteen years, and no matter how much water he drank, the fire would not ease. Leaning over the toilet bowl again, Caiden heaved; his stomach offered nothing more than a vicious burning that scalded his esophagus. Of course by then he wasn't completely ignorant of what was going on on 'the outside', not that he knew too much either. _The Dead Walk! _The newspaper his father left lying on the kitchen table to be studied later read days before, emblazed with pictures of sprinting, terrifying monsters that bore a striking resemblance to that woman who'd bitten him.

_Is the end of the world upon us? Local officials have had to exterminate twelve more of the aggressive creatures that many residents started spotting beginning late last month. Officers report that these creatures are extremely dangerous, and have given citizens the permission to kill any seen on sight without facing punishment. For now, officials request that everyone remain indoors with all doors and windows locked and await further instructions. If you are unfortunately bitten, seek out medical attention immediately. The virus is spread by a transfer of bodily fluids, similar to HIV or AIDS, and is believed to be a mutated form of rabies. Recent studies show-_

Upset, Caiden had stopped reading. This wasn't happening. It _couldn't _be happening. No one had seen these 'creatures', no one that he knew anyway, so it was dismissed as an inner city problem that the gang-bangers and whatever other nonsense that dwelled there spread.

Where was his family? The only reason they'd ventured out in such tumultuous times was because his little sister's birthday was in a few days. Casey was the baby of the family, a gorgeous doll the absolute spitting image of her mother, so naturally she got what she wanted. They'd all decided on treating her to her favorite restaurant as a family outing before the extravaganza that was planned for her on the true day, though Caiden wouldn't be joining them. _"Cici's Pizza," _He remembered her yelling excitedly from downstairs as his mother gave him her instructions for the evening. "_Hurry up, Mommy! Caiden's a big boy. He won't die. Let's go!" _His mind started to wander, floating above the chaotic city. Had his family even made it down the street..?

Dark hair splayed about him on the tile when he decided to press his cheek against it again, he clenched jade eyes tightly shut, fists balling. Outside everything was being turned inside out, and he could barely muster enough strength to raise his head. He'd heard the sirens wailing up and down the streets, seen the strobing red and blue lights. Ambulances? Police? It was a scary thought, all of this. To think that he might have actually been _left behind_ by his family as they fled to a safer place by government order. But it was an even scarier thought to believe that the immaculately cleaned bathroom tiles would be the last thing he saw before he died. Casey was wrong. He didn't feel as if he'd be around to see her tenth birthday.

As soon as the notion was formed within his mind, Caiden could feel his heart start to weaken, beating ominously loud like a drum being struck over and over again, methodically slow, in a long, dark hallway. His vision blurred, everything doubling and then tripling, before eventually it all simply faded to black.

The moon seemed to glow crimson that night.

It was the coldness that struck him first, despite his heavy jacket and baggy jeans. It was a chill that snaked into his bones, into his very being, constricting him but quelling the fire that had burned him from the inside out before. Caiden lay immobile for a moment, trying to gather scurrying thoughts. He could feel all of his limbs.. everything was attached. It took a few moments of convincing before he believed that he could move, and when he did, he took things slowly. But everything felt so.. effortless, as if half his weight had been lifted away. Finally, hesitantly, he pried his eyes open, but all the faster he wished he hadn't.

The florescent light hanging above burned Caiden's eyes, searing his pupils. He let out an inhuman hiss, pushing away from the tub on which he'd supported his back against and propped himself up on all fours, front crouched lower to the ground than his back. Before Caiden could even comprehend what was happening, he was in his bedroom again, gazing through eyes that did not feel like his own. Despite the pitch-blackness of the room, he could see everything perfectly, from the intricate, quilted patterns on the blanket his mother had sewn for him, down to the quarters scattered about on the wood paneling underneath his bed.

Dropping onto his side, a deep frown creasing his face, Caiden simply stared. _What the hell is going on..? Is this some sort of a dream? _That was truly what it seemed like. Some sort of a cruel dream. Wearily, almost too slowly he stood on shaky legs and seated himself onto his bed.

"My God.." It was something that he'd tried to speak, but it came out as strangled hisses and grunts, not that Caiden truly noticed. He was too horrified to notice much of anything. Hands having folding themselves in his lap, he'd caught a glimpse of them. Now holding them in front of his face, he took note of their appearance. Long, incredibly sharp claws had grown from previously well-trimmed fingernails, stained yellow and standing out in a harsh comparison against the otherwise extreme paleness of his skin. Though his body, for the most part, felt normal-enough, placing one tentative hand on top of the other told him that his skin was shockingly clammy and almost numb, lacking any true heat at all.

_This was all going to hell real fast. _


	2. The Awakening

Chapter 2

(Caiden's POV)

_What's wrong with me? _

Nothing.

It felt nice to think that. It offered some mild form of reassurance, a feeling that kept slipping and slipping as I inched up the sweatshirt's sleeve. My skin was white, even graying in some places, and it was cold. So.. so cold..

But at least the pain was gone. That burning in my stomach and chest had all but disappeared, but my stomach now burned with a new type of pain. Hunger. I hadn't truly eaten anything but the sparse amounts of soup that my mother had brought to me when I fell ill. But even then I had no appetite. And on the few rare occasions when I did try to eat, it all came back up anyway, so I failed to see the logic in trying. But now the hunger was there, ever present, as if my stomach had finally awaken after a long slumber.

Unsettled by both my appearance and the hunger, I pursed my lips. My mind was growing more and more fuzzy, fading in and out of awareness. Staring ahead, trying to focus on the book case across the room, I started to count backward from ten in my mind in an attempt to gather myself together. "Mmm.." The sound turned into a shrill growl, and I fell onto all fours onto the wood paneling, claws gripping at the slick surface. What was happening? This feeling.. it was unnatural.. I stared at my hands positioned on either side of me as I crouched, unable to determine what would make me want to be situated like I was in the first place. I felt stupid, and no doubt looked just the same. But all at once, something else stirred within me. Something just as unidentifiable as the urge that sent me down on my knees.

There was a word that continuously repeated itself as I stalked slowly back and forth across the floor, driven to near insanity by thoughts that didn't even really feel like my own. _Kill, _they whispered. _Murder. Murder. _

I paused, sharpened senses picking up the distant sounds of.. gunshots? Outside. I hadn't even thought about daylight or fresh air in three days really and even now 'fresh air' wasn't exactly my priority.

The power flowing through my veins.. it was unlike anything I've ever felt before. I crawled slowly toward my window. Pushing myself into what felt like an unnatural kneeling position, I peeked my head over the window sill just enough to peer out, and what I saw shocked me into an even quieter silence than I had been before.

On the street in front of my house, cars were piled up two and three vehicle high, some skidded on their sides and even more flipped completely over, ferocious fires burning within and around all of them. The skies were dyed red with the hell fires of other accidents left unattended in the city surrounding my home, but I saw no fire trucks. Down the street a bit, I did see a police car, but even then it looked abandoned. Fear seeped through my skin, through my mind, replacing the stream of sheer power that had been there before. "What..? Wh-why..?" I growled in a voice that I didn't even really recognize. It hurt to speak.

But where was everyone? The streets, despite their wildfires and abandoned cars, lacked any presence. Everything was deathly still. No.. no, wait.. in the park across the street, were people. A group of maybe five, all aimlessly standing by the large oak tree that was the center stone of this particular park. They looked fine enough, but not approachable, and something within me told me to avoid them. "Damn it. How long have I been in here?" It felt like centuries. In my three days of illness, a war on humanity had been declared and, apparently, won.

_Mom was right. I've just got the flu..it won't kill me. _It seemed more like me trying to convince myself than anything else. With one more lasting glance, I pried my eyes away from the window and awkwardly crawled over to the exit of my room. Nudging the door out of the way, I forced myself to stand despite a slight protest not to do so and descended the stairs carefully. There was no telling what could be dwelling below, after all.

But downstairs was virtually undisturbed. If it weren't for the red glow filtering in through the large windows in the living room area, I might have even called it 'normal'. The answering machine resting on a small table in the entryway blinked the number 'zero'. Still no word from my family.

At a loss and hesitant, I ignored my hunger and even my fear (even though something within me told me that I had nothing to fear and that there wasn't a thing in the world that could do harm to me before I could do just as much harm to it) and moved toward the front door, a little apprehensive but more so anxious about what may be waiting for me out here. But still.. the way I looked and felt, I doubted anyone would want to approach me anyway. I felt hideous, like.. like a monster.

_You _are _a monster, Caiden._

It was growing ever harder to ignore the condescending voice, the urges to stalk and to kill like some sort of a beast. But I knew that there were things that had to be completed, stupid things really, for the people that I was looking for had probably already gone away, anyway. At least I could hope.. the newspaper haunted my already troubled mind. 'The Dead Walk'.. what the hell did that mean, anyway? I had an eerie, unsettling feeling that I was about to find out. Shoulders hunched and clawed fingers painfully sinking into my palms, I unballed a tensed fist and carefully pushed open the front door.

Perhaps it was the smells that were overwhelming. Acrid, black smoke floated lazily through the air from the many fires, but even that wasn't what startled me the most. It was the smell of blood, strong and thick, that wafted up from all around, disgusting and enticing all at the same time. My stomach growled.

_Forget looking for them. I need to find a fucking mental institute, and check myself in. _Bitterly, I ventured out onto the deserted streets, hands burying deep in my jean pockets. What with whatever was going on in this city, I wanted to make myself as small and as discreet as possible. It truly did feel like some sort of a bad horror movie, and I would be the first to die because I just so happened to be the most uninformed.

I winced at the feeling of the nails on each of my hands biting through the thin fabric of my jean pockets and into the flesh of my thighs. None of this made sense. How could nails grow at least an inch in such a little amount of time? I couldn't have been passed out that long. And even if I had, that didn't explain my teeth, which had formed points, or the thoughts flooding my mind at a million miles a minute that all had one thing in common. Kill, kill, kill. That's all I wanted to do.

Absently, I was drawn to the park where I'd seen the people earlier, though it probably would have been beneficial to be a little more cautious.

_No one can touch you. _

Jaw clenching, I stood across the street from the park, staring idly at the darkened trees. The street lights flickered even more erratically now, but it's not like I truly needed them. The people in the wooded area were all scattered about, I noticed, easily picking out each and every one of them in the darkened wood.

_Jump._

Jump? What did that mean..? The feelings and instincts within me grew stronger like the crescendo of a concerto, and I knelt on all fours. It came naturally, like a reflex. This was how I was meant to be. That voice again..

_Jump. Now._

I must've really been losing my mind. Jump _across _the street? .. I could make it. I_ knew _I could make it. Something deep in my bones, in my very being told me that I would soar easily across the asphalt. It didn't seem so far.. even though it _was_ all the way across the street and the tree I was targeting was at least thirty feet high. But still..

The power started to gather in my legs first, muscles tensing and coiling like immensely powerful springs. Clawed fingers gripping into the ground for leverage, I launched myself into the air, the power behind this single leap taking me clear across. I was so surprised by this that, when I hit the leaves and branches of the tree I'd been aiming for, I almost slipped had it not been for my hands automatically gripping onto one of the tree limbs.

My heart thudded loudly in my chest, and my body broke out in a cold sweat. This wasn't possible. No. All of this was a dream. A bad dream. A nightmare induced by the fever I'd had. No.. It wasn't humanly possible to _jump _into a fucking tree. From my vantage point, I could see over the entire park and into the larger buildings of the inner areas of the city. Clinging to the branch for dear life, I swallowed any and all facts of just how high up I was. Doesn't matter. Things weren't meant to make sense anymore.

At least I didn't have a fear of heights.


	3. The Confrontation

Hm.

There was a new one.

No.. not _new _per se, but his scent was growing stronger now. Changing.

Kael had watched.. had waited. Days passed and the smell permeating from the small, condo-like home only grew. He'd patiently sat, perched atop one of the many lookalikes homes stretching down the suburban street for as far as the eye could see, staring at the door.

Waiting.

After all, Kael wasn't about to deal with the others.. like him that he'd found. No, not the bumbling, awkward, idiotic creatures that roamed the abandoned city by the hundreds, attacking anything that twitched. The individuals he thought of were different. But the ones he'd encountered thus far, it seemed, had all but lost their sentience.

That enormous, bloated behemoth of a thing.. Kael nearly gagged as he thought about it, long tongue snaking only briefly out of his mouth, long enough then to just barely brush his chest. That monster was hardly even a monster. In fact, it lacked any true purpose at all. It was not a good hunter or stalker, for the bubbling sounds originating from its gut were enough to give it away from even the farthest distance, not that Kael's chest-wracking coughs didn't do the same sometimes. But at least he could move quickly enough to remove himself from the situation. It was only truly good at two things: throwing up and being killed. One bullet was enough to pop it like a balloon after all. He'd even killed the sparse few he'd seen around the city; just to put them out of their misery. Not to mention it was amusing to watch their bodies soar twenty feet into the air from a swift fling via Kael's tongue and explode upon hitting the pavement.

Of course it wasn't as if that psychotic bitch he'd stumbled upon at the cross section of Elms and Main Street was any better. She sat in the middle of the street and mimicked humanity so perfectly with her sobbing, making her sound like a lost victim of the terror, not that she fooled him. He could smell her difference, her deceit. Despite every little red flag that immediately went off, he'd approached, back arched and hand outstretched, ready to kill if the need arose.

Not that he ever got the chance.

In an instant, she turned and started screaming like a deranged banshee, nails sharpened into painful claws that dug into his face and shredded his clothing. Nothing he did averted her. She ignored his protest, his self defense. His only chance had been a set of broken fire escape stairs that hung four stories high above both of their heads, attached precariously to the side of an apartment complex. A slick, slightly bumpy tongue shot out of Kael's mouth and wrapped around the railing, tugging him to safety while she ran around crazily below, bellowing like the mad woman she was.

Rubbing a scarred cheek in remembrance, Kael ran a hand through deep, dirty-blonde waves that were so dark in color it appeared mahogany. So help him, he'd be _damned _if he went near that woman again.

And then there had been that giant.. thing. What he.. _it_.. was, Kael didn't even know. Not that he got close enough to find out. It was mammoth, far stronger than even he was on his best days. Bulging biceps screamed, "stay the fuck out of my way" and that is _precisely _what Kael did. He'd never seen muscles so large in his life, and he could honestly say that the infection royally fucked whoever that thing once was completely over. As soon as he heard it approaching –and thankfully it made quite a racket when it was near-- he was quick to head in the opposite direction. It was cowardly, that he would not deny, but at least he preserved his life by his cowardly ways.

But they said that fourth time was the charm, right? _No, it's third time's the charm, smart ass.._ Shrugging a bit, a very bored Kael perked. There was movement, finally movement, coming from within the condo a house or so down from where he watched, where his latest 'hopeful' had been stewing for the last day or so. He made it through the transformation. That was always a plus. His scent was different from the others. _Masked _almost. As if he weren't meant to be scented by those who didn't know what they were looking for, unlike the fatass, the bitch, and the muscle-head, who all relied on blind luck and stupidity on the part of their prey. Well.. the first and the last one, at least. That woman didn't seem hungry, didn't seem like she wanted to hunt. Just cry.

_Let her cry, then. Wonder if this kid can give her something to cry about. _Thought Kael, sharp, inhuman golden eyes narrowing as a low cough rattled throughout his torso. He did his best to cover it up for now as he didn't want to alert this newcomer of his presence just yet.

From above, the only thing visible at first was a kneeling, shadowy figure, one who seemed..lost. His body remained completely tensed as he hesitated for a long moment, and Kael mused that if he were to jump down there then and yell the kid might just have a heart attack and keel over before either of them got a good idea of just what he was capable of.

The joking mood was quickly set aside however. Lit only by the luminous light of a thousand burning fires, Kael watched as the boy went from kneeling to.. what, flying? Arms spread eagle, the boy soared through the air like a bird, body becoming nothing more than a darkened, black blur. Kael's head unconsciously shook a bit and he stared at the tree across the street in which the boy had disappeared. No, he'd _jumped. _Like a fucking frog or a flea. Just.. jumped. Just like that. "What the hell.." Muttered the blonde aloud, unable to mask the impressed tinge that colored his words.

The scent was growing fainter. Kael, for the first time, had lost not only sight of his prey, but smell as well. It had become.. camouflaged; taking on the strong scents of the surrounding trees and brush in which the boy had leapt. Taking one long, lasting drag off of his cigarette, he threw the smoldering ember onto the roof beneath his feet where it joined two dozen or so other spent cigarettes littered about his Converse.

Hopping swiftly down from the condo's rooftop, Kael made his way toward the tree, still careful to remain hidden for the most part, though his only concern had grown to be making sure he didn't lose track of his prey.

It didn't take much searching to find the boy. A smell, strong and overwhelming struck Kael first, a smell he'd become well acquainted with over the last week. Blood. But it was old blood, coagulated and no longer flowing. Blood of the Wanderers. In the minute or so that Kael had lost sight of the boy he'd dubbed 'The Flea', he'd killed one of the violent creatures and was currently kneeling over it, ripping and tearing skin and rancid meat off of the arm of the poor bastard that had been aimlessly roaming the park before, waiting for some unaware living soul to venture there.

Kael was hesitant, watching in silent fascination as Flea fed. What if this boy was just as angry and mindless as the others? Long tongue slid carefully between his lips as he contemplated an idea that had formed within his head. His tongue was his weapon of choice, of course, just in case things got out of hand. If there was one thing that he was certain of, however, was that he had to confront the Flea.. just to _know. _It was incredibly lonely out here by one's self.. the humans proved to be poor company, after all. He'd tried before, to keep one as a companion, but they were terrified of him. Where he saw beauty in his cold, calculating, cat-like yellow eyes, they only saw fear. And thus, they ended up his meal of choice for that fine evening.

Stepping from within the shadows, Kael arched an eyebrow as he waited to be noticed. But Flea kept feeding, low, satisfied growls permeating his hunched form every now and then. A long pause passed between them, and Kael grew more and more frustrated. Without warning, his tongue leapt from his mouth with sickening slurp and wrapped around the leg of the mutilated Wanderer, yanking it away from Flea, and tossing it clear across the park and into the darkness. A moment or two later, a loud thump was heard as it landed elsewhere and Kael's tongue retracted back into his mouth where it belonged.

A silence so loud and thick that it might've been felt swelled in between them, and the tiny hairs on Kael's skin prickled. The Flea stilled at first, confused apparently, but finally he turned, his eyes a clear, pristine, crimson red that bored holes into Kael's skull. Kael almost shivered. Almost.

"I know I've got a nice face but you don't have to stare, Flea." He said smoothly, arms crossing. The boy flinched at the movement, and Kael made a mental note not to do it again. When there was no immediate answer, hope seemed to be fading for the dirty-blonde haired boy. He suppressed a sigh, ready to put his little 'flea' out of his misery when the other's mouth opened, a low hiss sliding from deep within his throat at first before words, as clear as day.

"That was _my _kill._" _Whispered the Flea, his jaw clenching. His mouth and the front of his black jacket were both covered in blood and pieces of flesh, only serving to add to the raw, animalistic that leaked from every pore on his body. Kael inwardly smiled. Ah, the English language was beautiful. Especially when he hadn't really had anyone else to enjoy it with for over a week.

"Sorry. But you were ignoring me and I don't appreciate being ignored." He murmured, sounding truly apologetic. The Flea seemed a bit conflicted, as if he were trying to understand what was being said. There was a shift in behavior from his flea as he stared first at Kael and then started to avoided his gaze altogether. Despite Caiden's efforts, Kael noticed something quite particular with each intermittent flickering glance shot his way. The Flea's eyes were green now. A bit cloudy maybe, but green all the same. _What, does he have like Transition Irises or something? _He mused, remembering those carmine, pupil-less eyes that had chilled him to his core only seconds before."Here. Why don't we start over, hm? What's your name?"

Flea did not answer. His entire body stilled and tensed as if caressed by a ghostly chill, and gradually he rose up onto two feet. His legs quivered beneath his body weight before he finally steadied himself and his gaze rose, locking with Kael's.

He stared first at Kael and then down at his soiled front as if he hadn't seen either of them before.

"Holy hell.."


	4. The Attack

Author's Note: Heya guys. Chapter 4 here. I'm very pleased to see all the positive reviews, and just wanted to say thank you. Anyway, I'll shut up and let you get on to reading!

All at once, Caiden fell onto his knees and violently heaved, emptying everything that had recently been ingested from his stomach. Despite the darkness due to the now lack of streetlights, he saw everything in the pile of gore before him. Pieces of skin, fingers, blood, even shreds of clothing.. Caiden fell backward and backed away from it, shaky hands rising to wipe at his mouth. He couldn't remember how he'd come to eat those things, couldn't remember why he'd even _want _to. The only things his hazy mind could recall was that incredible jump and his landing in the towering oak tree. He'd glanced down below at the people he'd been pursing in the first place, and then.. there was nothing.

Despite his compromised situation, Caiden could sense another presence. He righted himself, kneeling down onto all fours and backing away. His mind had taken a back seat for the time being, and his instincts screamed that he needed to escape. He was weak, unable to fight.

"Hey, wait! Come on, tell me your name at least. Unless you prefer being named after an annoying bug.." Caiden froze, staring at the figure about ten or so feet ahead of him. It was a boy, perhaps around his age. He looked normal enough, but a sickly sweet scent of unexplained fresh tobacco permeated the air about the both of them and his eyes were pure yellow. Malicious. _Run,_ his mind screamed. _Get away. Now. _

But Caiden ignored it. No, he needed help. Even if this.. person didn't seem safe, it didn't mean he deserved to be judged so harshly. Besides, he was desperate for some sort of information on what in the hell was happening to him, to everyone else. He was traumatized and frightened, and running, hiding, and curling up in a ball for a while like he wanted to would only bury him deeper into the hole he'd dug for himself as soon as he stepped outside.

Instead, he forced himself to stand up once more. He drew in a deep breath of the cool, crisp night air which helped to mildly clear his head, before he answered. "I'm.. Caiden.." His voice sounded raspy, unused. Not to mention the back of his throat burned from its recent expulsion. The boy took a step closer, eyebrow still curiously cocked.

"Hm. Caiden, huh? Funny. My name is Kael. Kael and Caiden. Caiden and Kael. Strange.. I think I'll stick to calling you Flea." He said and Caiden shifted on his feet, awkward and uncomfortable. Names really weren't his priority at the moment.

"Kael.." Mumbled the darker haired boy, trying the name on chapped and stained lips. He felt so small.. so insignificant and unsure. Despite the fact that his nature warned to not associate with this boy, he wanted so desperately to trust him. He'd never dreamed he be in such a situation, much less alone.. the town was virtually empty aside from the.. creature he'd killed. But there were others around, lurking in the darkness, wary of the two standing in the center of the park once they realized what had become of their comrade. They didn't seem sentient, much less competent enough to speak. They were merely animals in the form of humans. Unspeaking, unthinking, working on an instinct no doubt similar to the one Caiden felt brewing deep within himself.

_What now? _Caiden wanted to demand, to do something to express the turmoil he felt inside. A side of him clawed at his mind, wanting, _needing _to escape. But he kept it suppressed, fearful of exactly what that side represented. It was the hunger. It was what had driven him to mercilessly murder and feed on another one of his kind like a ravenous beast.

_Run now, _Whispered the voice, urgent and strong. _He's dangerous. More powerful. He'll kill you, steal your prey. You'll die. Hunger.. feed.. Run! _It grew louder and louder, until it was a hollow wail that rattling his brain to its very core. He gripped at his ears, clawing at his hair and scalp as if trying to tear out the unyielding voice. The anger radiated strongly, overtaking the blood that had been previously flowing.

All of a sudden, Kael didn't seem so friendly anymore.

Throwing his head back, Caiden released an earsplitting screech, a cry more unique than both he and Kael no doubt had ever heard. Offering no more words, he crouched down low and succumbed to his voice, launching himself with a single, powerful jump over the thin chain-link fence that separated the park from the business establishments directly beside it. He landed on the roof with a hard thud and skidded a few feet, before moving up onto the lip of the roof and jumping down onto the street below.

The carnage of a ravaged city was becoming more and more apparent. Up and down the street here was a mirror image of what the street in front of Caiden's house looked like, only here there was one single, horrifying difference. There were bodies.. dozens of them. Some were victims of the car accidents still trapped in their vehicles, while others weren't even visible as half a dozen or more Wanderers were hunched over their corpses, greedily feeding. He loathed the extreme, needy burning coming from his own stomach which was quite upset that its meal had been stolen from it just as soon as it'd arrived earlier.

Eyes, now colored a deep, bloody red stared at a group of Wanderers who'd only just started to pick at one of the dead. They were so weak, these creatures. There were only three of them huddled around the body of a man, perhaps in his late thirties, who'd met his fate by being catapulted from his overturned SUV fifty feet from where he lay sprawled.

Without another thought, Caiden started to gather up the energy into his back legs. He sprang forward, attacking first one of the feeding monsters closer They were all immediately startled, but the unfortunate one that had been targeted by Caiden didn't have a chance to try and defend itself before long claws silenced it forever.

Instead of feeding off of it as he'd done before, Caiden turned toward the other two which had decided that this meal wouldn't be bullied away from them. The nearest one, a skinny, red-headed young woman who's dress and accessories sang that she was from a nicer part of town flung herself at him, screaming in fiery rage. He hated their unwarranted strength, but a single bite to a throat she'd left fatally unprotected quickly neutralized the tiny threat she represented.

It was the last Wanderer that posed the greatest threat. A man, much larger than Caiden towered over him. His eyes were pure black, pupils so swollen that they engulfed the eyeball in their entirety. He was shirtless; fresh gashes and bite wounds littered his slightly toned chest, but seeing as how he was still standing, he'd obviously won whatever altercations he'd been in. Caiden lowered himself so close to the ground that his chest nearly brushed it and he growled, red-stained teeth bared. The Wanderer remained steeled to his spot, his lips drawing away from his own bloody teeth.

Without warning, the larger man threw himself atop Caiden, his superior weight knocking him off balance before Caiden could retaliate. Stars exploded in front of his vision, the world around him swimming. The creature started to pound its fist into Caiden's back over and over again, pure, unbridled anger behind every blow.

_No. No. Kill him. Kill! He'll kill you! _The voice was frantic now, panicking. Adrenaline flooded his veins, but his legs—his central hubs of power—had been taken out from underneath him, and he'd have to regain them to attempt a jump if he wanted to free himself. If he could manage that, he could easily throw this fiend off of him and give him what he deserved.

A pain, sharp and extremely strong tore through his being. The warmth of fresh blood spread across his shoulder, soaking both the jacket he wore and the shirt underneath. Caiden cried out, continuing to thrash, but to no avail.

The fear started to set in. He would die out here. Killed by something that was supposed to be as easy to exterminate as a bothersome fly. His claws dug into the rough pavement as the relentless man above him continued to bite and tear as if Caiden weren't someone who'd tried to kill it, but rather another tasty morsel to sample.

"Goddamn it all, Flea!"

The exclamation caused both he and the Wanderer to stop moving for a moment, though that proved to be quite the unfortunate idea for the larger man. Despite his vantage point, Caiden watched in silent fascination as something long, slick and slim jetted right past his face and wrapped around the Wanderer's neck, snatching him off of Caiden as if he were a ragdoll. Instantly, Caiden got back into his position but whimpered and buckled, his left arm unwilling to touch the ground as an unbearable agony spread throughout his shoulder area as soon as he did. The Wanderer stared in pure rage at his attacker, who held him suspended three feet off the ground, but couldn't manage any sounds as the thing about his neck tightened to the point of suffocation. He fought and clawed at the leathery piece of muscle, but lasted only a few seconds before going completely limp, a thin line of bumpy blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

It was him again.

Not that Caiden really cared at this point. He wasn't concerned about the fact that this strange boy was following him, nor did he bother to think about how said strange boy had just saved his life. His shoulder screamed its agony, its protest to any movement he made. Despite it all, he continued to try and put weight on that arm, knowing that he needed to move to a closed, protected area. His vision continued to swim, the figure approaching him violently blurring. He hissed in weak warning and tried to back away but every movement gave way only to an excruciating burn that radiated all over his body, immobilizing him. He felt like a wounded wild animal being backed into a corner. Caiden would be killed. He was so very, very sure of it. The last thing Caiden's frayed mind saw was the figure bending down over him before it all faded to black.


	5. The Recovery

Kael was at a lost.

How, oh how, had the Flea managed to almost get himself _slaughtered _in the, what, five minutes _at most_ he'd disappeared out of Kael's sight? Slightly out of breath, the dirty-blonde stared down at the unmoving figure of his newest project, wondering if he was worth all of the trouble. Sure he was strong, and being easy on the eyes was certainly a plus, but this kid was one crazy fuck. He was the textbook definition of a schizophrenic psych patient and then some, but Kael knew that he couldn't blame him. All he wanted to do was enjoy his first meal, and somehow he kept getting interrupted.

_Poor little Flea. I'll make sure he gets his fair share of food. _Kael mused as he gathered the smaller boy up into his arms. He was bleeding pretty badly judging by how as soon as Kael cradled his back, the sleeve of his green jacket was instantly dyed a deep, sticky crimson.

As Kael hadn't had any permanent residence.. ever really, he decided that it would be easiest and best to simply take Caiden back to the condo from which he'd come from in the first place. He didn't much enjoy being cooped up inside for very long—after all, the city was so large, and there were so many areas he'd yet to explore—but he'd waited almost two days on top of that stupid roof to meet this boy. He wasn't about to just abandon him out here to be easy pickings for whatever happened to stumble upon him.

Kicking open the door to Caiden's home, Kael let out a low, sarcastic whistle as he ventured inside. The house looked so.. normal. So untouched by the pure rape the city it inhabited was experiencing. "Niiice.. who woulda' thought a nice little suburban boy like you would end up such a 'horrible' killer with a voracious appetite?" He chuckled, gently resting Caiden down onto one of the couches in the living room. The exertion caused his lungs to start up their incessant burning, and deep, wracking coughs tore through his lanky form. He stumbled backward, covering his mouth with a hand and patting his chest with the other. It left his throat feeling scalded, and tiny drops of blood did dot the hand he used to cover his mouth, but in all reality, the coughs were all bark and no bite at this point. They'd already done whatever harm they were going to do to his body _during_ his transformation into the creature he'd become. _That _had been hellish.. he didn't think he had lungs left to cough up anyway.

A slow, languid puddle of blood was starting to spread across and soak into the black suede material that the couch was made of. Pushing away the slight stinging that had started up in his chest, Kael moved toward the unconscious boy and knelt beside him. Fixing two clawed hands about the bottom of the thin jacket Caiden wore, he carefully pulled it up, sliding one arm and then the other out through the sleeves. Grabbing one of the arms, he propped Caiden up into a sitting position so that he could get a better look at the weeping wound on his back.

The last article of clothing that Flea wore on his torso wasn't quite so easy to remove. The once-white undershirt had become glued to Caiden's skin due to the viscous red fluid that continued to flow freely as if there wasn't a gaping wound there to intercept it on its usual path through the body. He managed to work it up and over Caiden's head, smearing blood all along the back of his neck and mixing with his already-dark hair.

"Geez, Flea.. you really let that stupid thing kick your ass, didn't you?" Kael mumbled underneath his breath. Dark, angry bruises ran the length of Caiden's back, surrounding the bite like a purplish-black halo. The main wound was about three inches in diameter, but it ran deep, tearing through skin and sinew alike. Surrounding it were scratches and puncture wounds that colored already sickly skin an even more unhealthy-looking shade. Eyes narrowing Kael ran his index finger along the outside of the bite, tracing the near perfect circle. He withdrew it and stared at the blood that had gathered on his digits, idly smearing it with his thumb.

"Well.. I've got some good news, Flea. If you're anything like me this'll be closed up in a few hours, and then by tomorrow it'll just be a bad memory. Just be thankful you aren't a frail little human anymore." He casually said as he slid the blood-stained fingers into his mouth and sucked them clean. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

Boredom. _That _was the true killer in all of this. It was pure torture knowing that a city that was currently being engulfed by Hell itself was just outside that perfect, little white suburban door, begging him to join in, but he couldn't take that option due to his newfound babysitting duties. The house was.. pleasant, he'd give the family that, but it was so _boring. _An adorable replica of the dozens of other homes that Kael had taken to raiding not long after the city was thrown into its current chaotic state. Everything was the same. Hell, even the layout of furniture was similar. A couch propped with its back against a sprawling window, an end table resting between the little space that the couch formed with its matching loveseat. And there were pictures. _Everywhere. _

Resting the still unconscious Caiden back down onto the cushions, Kael pushed his lanky form onto its feet and ventured over to a row of pictures resting atop the glass entertainment center surrounding the blank television. He smirked an inward smirk and reached up, clawed thumb tenderly stroking a picture of a younger, brightly smiling Caiden. He looked so.. different. So human. Kael probably wouldn't have thought them to be the same person had it not been for those two piercing jade eyes that, even filled with such innocence, seemed to bore holes through anyone that looked into them too long.

The thumb fell and migrated to the pocket of Kael's jeans and hooked itself there. He spotted the stairs, but opted not to go up them just yet. He wasn't going to risk letting Caiden out of sight.. no, not when the boy was still so volatile. He'd learned the hard way that it only took a second for his Flea to disappear and just about the same amount of time for him to almost get himself killed. Long tongue snaking absently out of his mouth, he allowed it to trail down nearly to the floor, still enjoying the new feature bestowed upon him. While his tongue tested the air, his eyes fell on a photo of Caiden's family.

"How cute." He whispered, a taste of bitterness lying just underneath his words. A beautiful mother, handsome father, a little sister who could have been Caiden's twin had it not been for the lack of intensity in her pale blue-grey eyes. Her long, black hair framed her face perfectly, giving to her the innocent, doll-like guise.

He hated them.

Hated their perfectness. Hated their apparent ignorance to what the world was truly like. They were a textbook family; what every young girl dreamed of having one day. The only thing missing was the family Labrador retriever.

The tongue, so limp and harmless before, shot up and out and slapped every picture on the entertainment center so hard that most flew to the far wall, shattering on contact. Kael's heart hammered and his temper violently flared, tongue retracting to allow his jaw to clench. He was glad that the damned city was burning.. burning in fires that it and only it was responsible for. After all, what kind of community would turn its back on the ones most in need, pretending that everyone that inhabited it lived like these people? Untouched by the deadly fingers of hunger and sickness. Fuck them all.

The anger, Kael soon realized, was unwarranted and a bit belated. The city was already suffering. Growing angry about the past wasn't going to fuel the fire. Getting out there and taking lives would, but.. he was still on babysitting duty.

All of ten minutes had passed since his assessment of the Flea. Turning and unable to hide his annoyance, Kael withdrew a cigarette from his pocket, slid it between his teeth and lit it up. He watched the languid curls of white smoke start to twirl and dance in the air, and flopped down in the loveseat adjacent to where Caiden lay limp.

Throwing a slightly irritated glance toward Flea, he turned his blank stare toward television screen. He didn't expect for much of anything to be on right then, but an idle mind was evil's workshop.. the thought brought a smile to his face as he took a long drag from his cigarette. Snatching the remote off of the end table beside him, he turned the large, previously blank TV on. It flashed blue before displaying a local news station.. but in channel number only. There were no news reporters on screen, in fact there wasn't anything at all. Just 'Please Stand By' signs and the annoying, blaring siren of emergency broadcasts. Ten channels later brought the same end result.

"What was I expecting? Fuckin' Spongebob or something?" Kael muttered aloud as he went past his thirtieth 'Stand By' message. As the channel number started to rise, more and more generic shows replaced the messages. All of the local stations may have been put out of commission by the imminent disaster, but the bigger companies didn't see an apocalypse as a reason to stop playing syndicated episodes of _Seinfeld._ He flicked past a station, but quickly pressed the back button, and against the seat. It was a news station. An actual news station. It was a station that broadcasted international news, and therefore wasn't located within city limits. The plastic-looking woman sitting behind her faux-maple wood desk was probably hundreds of miles away as she chatted on about a calamity that she couldn't even begin to understand. Lucky her.

The headlines, both the main one and the scrolling one underneath it, focused entirely on what was going on. "Military reinforcements overwhelmed, huh?" Kael read, cigarette hung limply between thin lips. His attention immediately turning to the news footage that had been shot of camouflage-painted military hummers rolling one after another over the bridge connecting the island-esque city to the rest of the world. The video shook as the very ground began to rumble, and it soon became apparent why. It was the roar at first that told Kael exactly what was about to happen. He suppressed a shudder as a giant, hulking, grey creature bound onto screen, propelled only by its knuckly run like a primate.

It attacked the first hummer with a powerful swipe that easily knocked the enormous vehicle onto its side where it skidded to a spark-filled stop. The camera person—now revealed to be a woman—let out a terrified scream as the creature angrily punched another one of the invading hummers, sending it _through _the thick concrete walls that lined the bridge and tumbling down into the water with a final splash. Muscle Head, as Kael so fondly called it, turned toward the other vehicles which had come to an abrupt halt when they realized what they were facing and started after them with an angry howl. The video camera was dropped only moments after, footage reduced fuzzy white lines before disappearing from screen altogether. It went back to the news reporter who read from her papers and started speaking again.

"The cause of the tragedy currently taking place in Riverdale, Pennsylvania still remains a mystery. Officials refuse to share any information, but we have Doctor Stone here to speak more about the apparent virus causing the deaths and resulting mutations." Kael frowned as the screen changed once again to a balding man in a thin, white trench coat, the words 'via satellite' displayed in the corner of the image.

"Hah, looks like Muscle Head scared the shit out of them.. get two of those things together and no amount of 'military reinforcement' will manage to get into this shitty place. Hm.. guess we're on the same side after all, even if I do hate them." He said, pressing the power button on the remote and finishing off his cigarette. He wasn't interested in learning anything about 'the virus'. It'd already done its damage to him. What was the point? All they were going to do was make up some bullshit that sounded remotely intelligent to make whatever this was seem curable. After all, the more that was known about an illness, the better chance a vaccine would be developed. Give the public what they want to hear. Water down the true situation that only the people within the city limits truly knew of.

Tossing the remote back onto the end table, Kael turned sideways in the loveseat and pulled his legs up and over one of the armrests while his head rested on the other. Yellow eyes turning toward the ceiling, his vision flickered in and out of focus before his eyes shut completely. He didn't require sleep, nor had he really done it in the last week, but what else did he have to do?

What he failed to notice, however, was the fact that Flea was slowly propping himself up on an elbow.


	6. The Truth

Author's Note: Chapter 6 up. I periodically write from one of the character's POVs when I want to convey inner feelings or something like that. Anyhoo, enjoy.

~Caiden's POV~

There were no words to describe the pain.

It was different than the pain I'd felt from the sickness.. much, much different. My back felt as if white-hot nails were being driven into it over and over again and it radiated up my neck, pounding viciously at my skull. Two words came immediately to mind.

What. Happened.

The gaps in my memory were becoming more and more frequent, like a solid expanse of pure black where images and thoughts should have been. I could feel the general sticky uncomfortableness of dried blood all over my back and a painful, stiff glance over the shoulder that wasn't throbbing so badly told me that an entire lake of the stuff had formed beneath me while I lay dormant. Would I die? Honestly.. no one could lose this much blood and live. Hell, how was I even still conscious? But with each passing second I felt infinitely stronger, like a battery recharging. If I was really going to die, surely the opposite effect would have been felt. Puzzling. All of it was just that.. puzzling.

But at least the voice was gone. The same voice that had urged me to flee, to kill, to feed. My thoughts were my own now, no longer violated by the frantic voice of another entity that sounded so similar to myself.

A snore, loud and sharp tore me out of my reverie. My head snapped so quickly to the source that I cried out from the pain. I didn't want to move, didn't want to breathe. Everything hurt. Every cell in my body screamed.

Him _again._

A shudder ran through my noticeably naked upper torso as I stared at the unmoving form sprawled out so carelessly on the loveseat adjacent to where I sat. I wrapped my arms tightly around my form to try and block out the imaginary cold, fearful of.. what? What was this fear? This boy.. what was his name..? Kael. Kael, yes. He hadn't done this to me, my reasoning explained. Something else did. Something more frightening.

Slowly I eased myself off of the couch and onto shaky legs where I stood, feeling terribly awkward as I tried to suppress the relentless shivers that attacked my body every now and then. I felt like a pathetic wet cat, shivering and angry.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not take my eyes off Kael. He was an exotic to me: tall, slim form hidden beneath a white tee shirt stained with splotches of blood and a striped green jacket with matching splashes of scarlet. He wore a casual pair of jeans and a pair of black Converse—an almost identical match to a pair I owned. Wavy, wild bronze locks framed his sleeping face, which wasn't as pallid as mine, at least from what I could tell. All of it made him seem.. simple. Overly simple, and yet I felt the difference. He was not like me.. he hadn't been before all of this, and he most certainly was not now.

I flinched as he violently coughed, a slow frown forming on my forehead. Despite the raucous, chest seizing noise, Kael remained in his dead sleep, a long leg extending over the armrest of the loveseat. Other than that, he didn't move.

"What in the world is going on here?" I whispered aloud, taking a step toward him. This mysterious character was my only solace in this mad situation and I needed him. Preferably alive. Was there something wrong with him? That cough.. it didn't sound healthy. He sounded like he needed a hospital. Hell, we both needed medical attention.

Experimentally, I extended a hand, intending on checking his temperature. After all, a fever was the sign of an infection, wasn't it? And infections were dangerous..

_Look at you. Worried about some stranger when God knows what is going on with you. You just devoured a human being for fuck's sake!_

Devoured a human being..? I don't know where the thought came from, but I did know that I was eternally grateful for not remembering what happened before I ended up here.

"Don't even think about it, Flea." Tiredly, Kael mumbled, a yellowish gold eye cracking open and prying through my gaze. My entire form froze, clawed hand suspended in midair. A wild reflex within my mind told me to flee, though it was milder than the voice from before. It was more of a natural instinct if anything. I took a step back, and then another, managing to trip over the coffee table. A grace I did not know I possessed kept me from falling, but I still managed to look like a dumb ass.

Wide eyed and fearful, I stared at Kael in obvious uncertainty. He yawned and stretched his arms high above his head, but his eyes never left me. Cold, calculating..

"Good. You woke up and you're not in psycho mode. Do me a favor, though.. don't go getting your ass kicked anymore, alright? Or, if you do, at least make it be by that crazy bitch. 'Least then I could understand how you let that happen." He said. I chewed lightly on the inside of my lip and perched uneasily on the couch on which I'd been resting, carefully avoiding the large blood stain. I didn't trust myself to speak, nor did I even truly know what to say. There were so many questions to ask and yet.. I had no energy to ask them.

Standing, Kael moved over to my couch and I tensed, watching him take a seat beside me. It was strange.. this.. this _creature _was impossible to read. His eyes held nothing. No inkling of what his plans might be, his intentions of being here with me. I drew my knees up to my chest and resting my chin upon them, trying to ignore the tickling sensation of fresh blood running down my back.

"So.. you don't have anything to say? Aren't you gonna get on all fours on the floor, crouch down and growl at me, perhaps? Maybe hiss, and bare your _fangs_? I think I like the old Flea better. You're so boring now.." The entire thing was one big joke to him it seemed. He ran a hand through his hair, giving it a lazy ruffle. I averted my gaze to the floor where my jacket and undershirt lay in bloody ruins and I thickly swallowed. How was I still breathing..? My back was _still_ bleeding for God's sake. But, aside from the relentless pain, I felt absolutely fine. Fearful and confused maybe, but otherwise completely and totally fine.

At that moment, my stomach growled loudly, sending a wave of new pain throughout my abdomen. I was still hungry. Starving. I wrapped an arm around my midriff, but that did not stop the noise. Kael gave me an all-knowing look and grinned, snickering as if he knew something about me that I did not know about myself. "Stop it," I mumbled underneath my breath, voice rough and raspy. His chuckles were quelled by another coughing fit, and I felt mildly grateful for whatever ailment he had. "It's not funny! I.. I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know what the fuck is going on.. I don't even know what happened to my family.." I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes and wearily massaged away the sudden strain I felt.

A hand, almost familiar in its clamminess, rested on my bare shoulder. I jumped so badly that, had he not been holding me in place, I wouldn't be sitting on the couch anymore. Kael's gaze had become serious, analyzing.. _intimidating._ It was almost frightening how quickly he could change, as if emotions were playthings to him, ones that he cycled through constantly.I wanted to squirm away, to ask him what the fuck his problem was, but my voice died again. I could do no more than whimper in my pain, reverting back to my days as a child when my nights would be plagued by fears of a monster living underneath my bed.

Kael was that monster. The boogeyman. I would have smiled, maniacally laughed had not every muscle in my body ached with an agony far more intense than I'd ever felt before.

"Caiden," I tensed. It was the first time he'd referred to me by my real name.. I kept my eyes trained on the floor, willing him to disappear, for this entire personal hell of mine to finally come to an end. Before I could protest, Kael grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him, yellow eyes boring through my soul. "No, look at me. You're okay, alright? The last thing you need to do right now is panic, especially when you've got me, your own personal guide to this wonderful world of New Hades." He grinned and gestured out the window where the place I once called home blazed and wilted in an unbridled fire.

I stared at him. I felt compelled to do nothing more than stare, transfixed, lost. My mind refused to wrap around what was happening. How could such a wonderful place, a place once proclaimed to be one of the best cities to live in within the United States come to this? What, was this happening other places? Where was help? I abruptly pulled back and out of his grasp, staring hopelessly out into the barren street where memories of my father and I teaching my little sister how to ride her bike without training wheels surfaced lazily, muting the hunger and the fear for the moment.

I'd tried my best not to think about them. Not to think about my family and friends who were enduring this nightmare just as I was. Where they.. like me? _God, if you really are up there, let my family be dead rather than having to suffer through what I'm going through right now. Anything is better than this.. _

"Focus, Flea.. I need you to be a hundred percent here right now, got it? Quit spacing before you turn go all 'growl-growl, hiss-hiss' again." I turned back to him and continued my blank gaze, something deep, deep inside of me feeling as if it was on the verge of snapping. Something was bending.. bending into an arch it wasn't meant to form.. my sanity? My psyche? What?

Shuddering, I drew in a deep breath through my nose. It was too late to panic now, too pointless. If I lost myself, then I'd be letting down everyone I cared about. What if my parents were trapped somewhere out there? Casey.. I had to find her. If anyone, I wanted her safe. But this pain.. my back, my abdomen.. it was becoming unbearable.

Suppressing I shudder, I turned my attention fully to Kael. "What the hell is going on here? What the _fuck _is wrong with me, man? Look at this! _Look at this!_" I held out my clawed hands, nails having faded to a stark white color. The tips were bloodied and pointed, looking even more unsightly than they had before.

On my left forearm, the bite the woman had inflicted days before had all but faded, the once clearly discernable teeth-marks blending in almost perfectly with my skin. I ignored the scalding pain from my wound and stood up, starting up my trademark pacing. Vaguely I remembered my mother's light teasing of how I would wear the carpet down if I kept it up such a stupid habit. He watched me patiently as I continued, a distant interest forming in his otherwise unreadable gaze. It didn't deter me."You're just sitting there all cool and collected like there isn't anything wrong," I continued. "This _isn't _normal! Something is wrong with us.. aren't you worried?"

A Chesire cat-like smile spread over his lips. They parted and slowly a long, slippery pale pink tongue slid out like a horrid snake and made its way through the air. It stretched easily past me and I instinctively flinched away, moving to the opposite side of the couch and staring in silent horror at the.. thing. It stopped moving, but already had grown to at least four feet in length. It appeared alive.. as if it'd grown a mind of its own. All the while, Kael simply sat as if a four foot long tongue wasn't out of the ordinary at all. He was amused by my reaction, I realized, knowing that that was why he'd done it in the first place.

"You done?" He asked, drawing his tongue back into his mouth with a sickening slurp. "Hah. You should see the look on your face. It's a cross between.. 'oh my fucking god' and.. 'what the fuck'. Hilarious." He grinned again, teeth stained a deep red. I scowled at him, tempted to let that tiny voice in my head take over like it'd been trying to ever since I became conscious again. But there was something about Kael that screamed he was a threat I wouldn't ever be ready to face. He was powerful. Or maybe that was just his bluff.

"I'm glad this is all a joke to you." I moved and sat on the couch again, legs feeling as if they weren't able to support me any longer. Sighing, I leaned forward and rested my head in my hands, the exhaustion slowly starting to edge into my vision. Looking up, I turned to him and reached out, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder. I needed to stay focused, no matter how much of a freak show the both of us were. "You said you'd help me, right? You're.. my only hope in all of this. I know that you're the.. expert.. and you know what's going on, but you've got to realize that I'm so lost here.. please..Kael.. please, I'm begging you. Help me." It wasn't beneath me to beg.. in fact, I wasn't even sure if I had any pride left at all.

The smirk never left his face as he returned the gesture by resting his own hand on my shoulder. His face was close, nose nearly brushing mine. Up close, I could clearly see bluish flecks lining the irises of his eyes. If his pupils were vertical, and he somehow sprouted whiskers, I would not deny his relation to some branch of the feline family. "Caiden. Flea. Listen to me.. first thing I need you to do is chill out. Seriously.. you freak out too much. Granted, this isn't exactly the Riverdale you remember.. no, it's much, _much_ better than that boring place. It's hard to believe, but really it is. If you hadn't gone and gotten your ass kicked by one of those dumbasses out there, we could be exploring right now." He replied, relaxing back against the couch, expression nonchalant and almost bored.

I was..disgusted, to put it lightly. Tired. Annoyed. Why did my only lifeline in this have to be.. well, him?

"I'm going to go change." It was an excuse to get away from Kael for a while, a time when maybe I could gather my thoughts and actually be the rational one between the two of us.

Yellow eyes widened slightly under the mop of shaggy blonde bangs, but before he could speak, he started to cough erratically, face contorted in impatience and pain as the spell shook him. I took this as my cue to slip away. Let him hack up a lung in private. Shaking the hand from my shoulder, I turned toward the stairs which I hardly recognized. This whole house.. it didn't feel like my own. Those smiling faces lining the walls leading up to my room.. their eyes looked so dead. Who were these people?

_Your family. _Answered that cold voice from somewhere deep within conflicted thoughts. It cut through like a knife. With one last look at Kael, started toward the stairs, away from the sound hacking and wheezing.

Despite my distracted state, I could still distinctly feel the warm stickiness of Kael's tongue constricting my arm. It all happened so fast.. I saw a blur of purplish-pink and then all at once I was at a dead stop. That voice flared within me, only this time it did not speak. No screaming at me to kill or to run. No.. this time there was only flight, only fear of dying. I seized, slightly more defined muscles in my bicep bristling as I gave the captured arm a tug. "You're not going anywhere." Said Kael, voice resolute and eyes cold.

For a moment, I thought that perhaps he was joking. I searched his face, confused and suddenly very aware of just how exposed I truly was. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You said you wanted to go out in the city, didn't you? You want me to go gallivanting around half-naked?" I demanded, giving my arm another fruitless pull. I felt—no, I knew—I could break away if I truly wanted to, but no doubt that'd just cause more conflict. He looked so strange.. tongue taunt and jutting in between pursed lips despite his attempts at speech.

"Flea, I'm not stupid. You know why you got that wound on your back? Because I didn't keep a tight enough leash on you. You hopped away like the little flea you are and I had to come running to the rescue before you became roadkill. Sorry, bud, but that's not happening again. You go upstairs and disappear, and I'm SOL—shit outta luck and so are you." Kael smirked a bit at his own joke, tongue slowly unwrapping from about my wrist and returning to his mouth. I was, quite frankly, at a loss. My wariness about him was fading, replaced by unbridled annoyance and mild anger. Newly freed hand flexing, I huffed a breath in his general direction and started for the stairs.

I wanted some time alone.. but I needed Kael's acceptance more than anything.

"_Leash on me? _What do you think I am, some sort of dog? Look, if you're so worried, just.. come upstairs with me. But I'm not stupid, Kael. I know that I.. I need you."


	7. The End of the Beginning

Author's Note: Welcome to the end of part one! Aren't you proud of yourself for making it so far? xD This is a shorter chapter as it simply ties up some loose ends with Caiden as we enter into part two next chapter. And I got a very good review question regarding Kael. Yes, I am guilty as charged of beautifying my smoker, so no, he does not have the monstrous growth on the side of his face. But you'll see why I did this later in the story. :] Anyway, now it's time for me to shut up and let you read. Enjoy!

The water burned, blood, stained dark red, washing down the drain with every drip.

I stood underneath the hot jets, staring at the white tiled walls so similar to the ones on which I'd drawn my last living breath. I wanted to burn away this new pale flesh which covered every inch of my exposed body, to melt the obvious definition that had grown on my biceps and calves. This skin.. these muscles.. they were not my own. They were not _me.. _but then again, who was I anyway? Caiden.. I was him in name only. The old me was dead.

"I'm sure you're going to be the cleanest monster out there, Flea." Kael's sarcastic tone called through the bathroom door. I blinked and the world slid back into focus. My perspective narrowed, forcing me to concentrate only on the now. My parents.. Casey.. I would find them. I'd be damned if I didn't. What was happening to me didn't matter. At least this provided some sort of distraction.

Swiping a hand through dark locks, I pushed them out of my eyes and shut off the water. Despite the shower, I still felt soiled.. dirty. The sullied feeling was coming from within, I knew. From deep within my mind where that voice lay dormant for the moment, recuperating from the attack that left my entire bath tub colored violent ruby as old blood was washed from my body.

Stepping out, I swiped a towel from its rack hanging above the toilet and wrapped it around my waist. Maybe I was moving slower on purpose as I dried myself, motioning another towel over my hair over and over again. _Maybe I can just lock myself in this bathroom forever.. _I mused, dropping the damp cloth on to the floor. Purposely, I avoided the mirror, fogged though it was. I didn't want to see myself. I _couldn't _see myself. But still, the reflective glass was unavoidable as I started to dress, and eventually jade eyes caught sight of their distorted counterparts in the mirror.

Death is a part of life some would say. Don't fear it. Embrace mortality and let things happen as they should. _I don't think they saw this coming. _I thought drily as I pulled on a pair of loose fitting jogging pants, a simple black shirt and black hoodie, this one with a zipper. Dress comfortable. Jump higher. Simple.

It took a lot of will to finally open the door and emerge back into my room. Kael sat crossed legged at my desk, flipping idly through a book he'd found. "Finally." He said, tossing the book back onto the desk top. "I was starting to worry." A malicious grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he assessed my appearance with a quick once over. "You plan on going for a jog, Flea?"

Ignoring him, I knelt and opened the bottom drawer of my dresser, pulling out clothing and various other items until I produced what I'd been searching for. A roll of duct tape. It was a far-fetched idea, but.. wasn't I one of them now? I could freerun. A secret dream of mine; to be able to soar through the city effortlessly. The buildings were my environment, the pavement my enemy. Is this what it felt like to be like them? Muscles tensing at every uncertain grasp as they moved like primates through this urban jungle. The art of parkour had been something I admired since I first saw it on some nameless television documentary. But it had been just that. Something to admire from a distance. Like a singer with a beautiful voice or a wild, endangered animal. It was there, but I never expected to recreate it.

Until now. Maybe it was a strange boyish thrill, but I wanted to set my troubles aside for a moment. To make all worries disappear as I tried out my new body. Freeing the duct tape from its roll, I positioned it about halfway up my sleeve and startled to circle it with the silver adhesive. Kael watched me, bewildered by my peculiarity.

"This some sort of new fashion statement I didn't hear about?" He snickered, plopping down on my bed, a sketch pad he'd unearth from somewhere in my room in hand. I tried to keep all annoyance in check as I finished with my lower arm and moved onto my bicep. "No," I began, ripping off the tap with pointed canines. It sliced like scissors as soon as I bit down, requiring no tugging effort on my part. "I.. you wouldn't understand." I didn't feel like hearing his incessant ridicule. After all, he'd never let me live it down if he knew I was emulating someone I admired.

Obviously amused, I could feel yellow eyes burning another hole into my back. "Come on. Try me. I'm a lot smarter than I.. I look—ugh, you know." His words were abbreviated by another coughing fit, something we were both learning to simply allow to pass unnoticed. To begin to tape up my legs, I was forced to take a seat on the bed next to him. Refusing to meet his gaze, I drew a leg up to my chest and started to wrap the duct tape about my left thigh. Fearing more unwanted prodding, I hesitated before starting to answer. "It's.. complicated. Have you ever heard of.. parkour? Freerunning." There was a pregnant pause as he genuinely contemplated my question. I expected him to laugh and dismiss it with some witty response, and that be the end of that.

"Freerunning.. hm.. sounds familiar. Why?" Placing the sketch book beside him, Kael folded a slender leg against his chest, covering his mouth in warning that he might start up his coughing again, though nothing came. Hand dropping back to his lap, he continued to watch me batten down my clothes. With each wrap, I felt a strong zing of exhilaration. Perhaps Kael was right. Perhaps this newfound power wasn't so much a curse as any other event in life. After all, it was granting me strength.. something I lacked before.

"It's.. a sport of sorts. Really popular in Europe. It's.. It's like where the city is your playground and you leap and soar through it to.. I don't know, get to a certain spot like in a race maybe, or just for the hell of it. Only a select group of people can truly freerun because it requires so much upper and lower body strength. Sometimes they tape down their clothes to reduce air resistance. Supposedly it helps them land easier and stay in the air longer. I.. dunno, Ifigured I might as well give it a try considering I can.. you know.. jump." Tossing the duct tape onto my nightstand, I exhaled a slow breath. It felt so.. strange. I was sitting on my bed in my bedroom in my house, but I didn't belong here. If my own family were to walk in, I doubt they would recognize me. I was a stranger in my own home. "Anyway, I'm done here. Let's go."

I was starting to feel antsy just sitting idle while Kael digested my answer. He offered a simple "Cool." And I was unsure of whether it was directed toward my want of leaving or the information about parkour, but it didn't matter. Now that I'd showered and changed into something more suitable, I felt ready to engage the outside, something I had been hellbent on avoiding before.

Perhaps Kael and I were finally in sync, as we both rose off the bed in silence and proceeded downstairs. Pocketing a small photo of my little sister, I gave the house in which I spent all my happy years one last look. Somehow, I knew this would be the last time I saw it and, unbeknownst to me, my eyes took on a sharp shadow of pure bloodied carmine.

It was there for a second, and then it was gone.

_End of Part I_


	8. Dreams Part II

Author's Note: Welcome to part two! I'm so happy you've stuck with me so long. Anyway, there's nothing else I can really say other than sit back, relax, and ENJOY.

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"_We regret to report that the festivities of a young Maryland couple has been cut short on this somber New Year's eve as their midsized sedan was t-boned by an inebriated driver. The man was reportedly driving at upwards speeds of eighty miles per hour and he, too, was killed in the collision. The couple is said to have left behind a seven-year-old boy—" It was their picture. Sharp, smiling faces of Mommy and Daddy, but it couldn't be them. Parents don't die._

_Ignore it. Mommy and Daddy aren't dead. They can't be dead. Those people are liars! Dark, tiny rooms.. crying children. I don't belong here. Where are they? Scary people.. dragging, scolding, screaming. Where am I? Where's Mommy?_

"_I don't belong here! Mommy.. Mommy, help me. I'll be good, I promise! Please.._

_Mommy._

_Mommy!"_

_

* * *

  
_

"Kael? Kael! Hello?"

Kael awoke with a start, chest constricting as if a thousand tons of pure weight were sitting on it. He immediately broke out in a coughing fit, body covered in a clammy sweat that seeped into every thread of clothing he wore. Serpentine jade eyes stared at him beneath the folds of a too-big hood, one Caiden had opted to switch into the day before after his other, duct-taped hoodie had become drenched in the sudden rainfall Riverdale was experiencing. The coughing fit passed, but Kael looked no better after it than he had before. "That must've been one hell of a dream.." Caiden muttered beneath his breath, retreating back to his corner of the little shed atop one of the many inner-city buildings they'd decided to take refuge in. It'd housed old electrical equipment, but the only downside was the shed itself was metal and every raindrop was amplified by a hundred, echoing in the darkness.

From his pocket, shaky hands produced a half-empty pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Kael immediately slid one in between his lips and lit it, taking a long, deep drag as he did so. The nightmare stuck to his mind like a leech, briefly sapping away the air of confidence that Kael seemed perpetually in possession of. It'd been over a decade since that damned news broadcast, since seeing the news anchor's sober, but cheery face as he reported on the literal ending of two lives, and the virtual ending of another. It wasn't a wonder why Kael did not like the news.

Caiden's stare cut through the darkness like a knife, and for a moment Kael was sort of grateful for the dream. They hadn't properly spoken in the five days since Kael's 'liberation' of Caiden, and when they did it was always to exchange sarcastic remarks that left one or the other one pissed. But Kael didn't know what to do for Caiden. He had that picture.. the one of the little girl.. Casey or something, wasn't it? Caiden clung to it as if it were a gift from God himself, glancing at it in intermittent intervals as if the smiling face of his little sister would somehow whisper the answers her older brother so desperately sought after. Perhaps it was Kael simply being bitter, but something told him that that little girl was no longer alive, and neither were her parents. They hadn't seen a living soul in what felt like ages, and the company of a mute was starting to get tiresome.

"Kael..?" Caiden's voice sounded almost meek, as it was drowned out by the pellet-gun bangs thumping incessantly on the ceiling. Kael threw Caiden a slightly annoyed look. "Don't want to talk about it, Flea." He said, cutting off Caiden before he could even ask his question. He knew what it would be, and Kael was sure that whatever his companion had to say, it would be full of pity. Just the way Caiden said his name voiced it all. Kael didn't know what he could have possibly said while in the throes of the nightmare, and quite frankly he didn't give a fuck. It wasn't anybody's business.

_Two found dead on the scene.. _

Abruptly, Kael stood, heaving a frustrated grunt. "Come on. We've been sitting in this damned thing for almost three hours. It's just rain.. it's not like it can hurt us now." He couldn't take sitting still. Sitting still meant time dedicated for thinking, and Kael hadn't sat still in fifteen years for that exact reason.

Sometimes, Kael wondered why Caiden bothered to stick with him in the first place. They rarely give got along and shared practically nothing in common. Caiden was always so hesitant about things—not that Kael could blame the somewhat psychopathic boy. Neither of them knew what triggered Caiden's 'other side', which thankfully had been strangely quiet over the passing days, so whatever Caiden did, he made sure to tread lightly. No use in waking the beast if it wished to slumber. But Kael was different. He wanted to _know _Caiden.. wanted to know his strengths and his weaknesses. What made him tick, and what ticked him off. Not only would it aid him in the future just in case Caiden got.. unruly, but it would also give Kael a reason not to reflect on the thoughts buried beneath years of emotional bricking. This entire situation had forced him to come to terms with his mortality, something he wasn't sure even still existed.

Stepping out into the rain was like a breath of fresh air. If there was one thing Kael liked about this weather, it only helped to reinforce their difference from their human counterparts. The cold was there, yes, but it did not penetrate him to the core like it might have before. The chill was distant, more of a nuisance than a true concern. Unruly locks immediately plastered themselves to his forehead, and Kael gave an impatient swipe over his eyes to clear his vision. The city had become one giant, blurred mass in the rain, but at least the fires were under control. It used to be a sea of red when he looked around from that vantage point, but now smoldering embers were all that remained.

Not sensing Flea's presence behind him, Kael threw a cursory glance over his shoulder. The boy was still seated in his corner, clawed, shaky hands gingerly gripping that damned picture as he stared aimlessly at it. He'd studied that same grinning face for so long.. "Flea, you can stay here all you want, but I'm leaving." There was a resoluteness in Kael's voice that showed he was not bluffing. With clear reluctance, Caiden pocketed the photograph and stood, jade eyes smoldering just as hotly as the burned buildings were.

With ease, Kael lowered himself over the edge of the squat building and jumped onto the sidewalk. It was so strange to see a once prospering city reduced to rubble. They were right in the middle of downtown, where the infection must have started judging by all of the abandoned CEDA trucks lining the street. "This is what happens when you don't tell people shit." Kael murmured beneath his breath, peeking inside one of the government vehicles. The driver side door was wide open and lying face-up on the seat were the eviscerated remains of what could only be the driver. Nose wrinkling, Kael drew away, resisting the urge to gag. Zombies had no fucking mercy.

Lying on the floor of the cab were dozens of rain-splattered papers, some looked like invoices while others appeared to be letters. Straining a bit, Kael reached over and picked one up that wasn't so drenched, eyes lazily scanning the page.

_Infection spread beyond our control. There is no cure. This is unlike anything we have ever seen. CEDA retreat to be enforced IMMEDIATELY. Evacuation is incomplete, but we cannot risk leaving the city open anymore. Bridges connecting the city to the mainland will be destroyed at 0800 hours. Godspeed. _

The letter was dated four days ago. Kael's gaze fell on the CEDA vehicles lining the street. So _that's _where they were headed. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he swallowed away another coughing fit. What a big help they were.. no doubt CEDA packed up and left as soon as the _real _trouble started. "Hope you weren't counting on your good friends here to get you out of this one, Flea." Muttered the taller boy, balling up the soggy paper and tossing it with a pathetic _splat _against the boarded-up glass door of whatever building establishment loomed above them. Receiving no answer from his prospect, Kael turned, scanning the immediate area.

There was a feeling of pure dread that slowly filled him up from the inside as Caiden was nowhere in sight.

_Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. _

The word became a horrid mantra within Kael's mind as he hoisted himself up on top of the CEDA van. "Fle.. Caiden..? Caiden?!" He ran his hands through soaking-wet hair again, scanning parked cars, and stumbling, awkward bodies. This wasn't happening.. Where could he have gone in five minutes? He thought back to their first encounter.. Caiden had disappeared then, too. Just as quickly. Just as quietly. "Caiden!" His voice was a desperate cry, swallowed up by the relentless rainfall.

"Momma?"

It was Caiden's voice, clear as day. Kael turned swiftly, trying to single it out with the roar of the rain. Whether or not he had a still-beating heart remained to be seen, but Kael was confident he felt _something _inside of his chest give a violent squeeze of relief as soon as his vision locked on a dripping, still figure about twenty or so feet down the sidewalk from where he stood. Hopping down off of the truck with a grunt, Kael quickly closed the distance between them before Caiden could disappear again, pure relief turning into blinding anger.

"You little asshole, don't you ever do that again!" Each word was abbreviated with every step Kael took until he was close enough to Caiden to reach out and grab his arm. He gave his companion a rough shake, wanting some sort of response. Caiden, of course, offered none, green gaze transfixed on something across the street. "What the hell is your problem, Flea?"

Caiden seemed glued to his spot, undeterred by the rain or Kael's presence. Annoyed, Kael frowned and followed Flea's line of sight, seeing buildings, over turned cars. Nothing immediately out of the ordinary, at least for the two of them.

But there was movement. Instantly, Kael zeroed in on a woman leaning against the building across from where they stood, her back to them. Her blue and white blouse was torn and bloody, jeans ripped clean from the knee down on both legs. Despite her tattered appearance, her hair, long flowing and pure black, was still relatively neat as it fell in dripping waves down her back. It only took a moment for Kael to make the connection.

"No.. Flea, wait a second, listen to me." What were the odds? That couldn't possibly be her.. He thought back to the picture of that beautiful, smiling family. His jealousy of them had been warranted, yes, but Caiden didn't deserve _this _pain. Losing someone _so _close was the ultimate torture, like a million Transformations. He'd much rather Flea go on living with the hopelessness that his family was still alive somewhere than this.

As if Kael's words had awoken him from a deep slumber, Flea jerked in Kael's grip, tugging violently against the firm grip on either of his shoulders. "Let.. Me.. Go!" He hissed, staring past Kael toward the woman who still stood motionless. Without warning, Caiden wrapped his hands around the wrists of his captor, sinking sharp claws deep into the thin skin. Blood colored the dark brown jacket sleeves, spreading languidly over the area and dripping onto the ground as Caiden was finally released. Their gazes locked for an infinitesimal moment, a look of unforgivable hurt flashing in Kael's before it'd disappeared just as quickly as it had showed up.

Caiden was gone before either of them could properly process what had happened. He sprinted across the street like a bat out of hell, the promise of seeing his mother again proving to be too much for his frayed mind and he allowed himself to submit to the excitement.

_Damn it all, Flea.. you'd been doing so well, too. _Kael hesitated, wondering if Flea really was worth all of the trouble. His wrists throbbed, hands balling tightly into fists. He almost missed the days of chasing Caiden around while he went psycho. At least then it was safe to say he knew exactly what was going on behind those emerald eyes. _Kill._ They had only been separated a minute or so before Kael eventually joined his Flea on the other side of the street. He stood a few feet away from the volatile boy, already sporting ten matching puncture wounds. Sometimes learning things the hard way was the only route to take.

"Momma?" Caiden whispered again, standing adjacent to the woman. Her body stood stiff, quivering every now and then. There was no response. "Mom, it's me. It's me, Caiden." The hopeful whine in Caiden's voice was pathetic. Kael watched the scene unfold with mounting apprehension, fighting the urge to simply turn and walk away. Mother and son had been reunited, right? He was no longer needed.

But just as quickly as the moment had become touching, it made a violent, dreadful turn for the worst.

Her face still obscured by her posture, Caiden had placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle pull backward in an attempt to make her turn. She completed the action, not quite as Caiden had pictured it. A horrific, banshee-esque scream tore free from deep within her throat and she lunged, easily tackling her unsuspecting 'son' to the ground. "Wh-What? Mom, stop! Please.. Please!" Caiden's voice broke as he held his hands fruitlessly over his face. He was caught between defending himself from the vicious attack and not doing anything for fear of hurting the woman.

Luckily for him, Kael wasn't so passionate. He snatched the woman off of Flea by her hair, struggling to hold her as she pulled and scratched. Even from his vantage point, Kael noticed something. The picture of the darker-haired boy's family returned to his mind clear as day, and the slim, smiling photograph of Caiden's mother was the most prominent. He compared the woman he gripped to the photo, jaw slowly clenching. It felt almost sickening to feel so much relief in the span of fifteen minutes.

"This isn't your mother, Caiden. Come on, she's _your _fucking mom. Can't you see this bitch isn't her?" Kael said, jerking the woman's head downward to give Caiden a better look. Despite her dead, sunken eyes and the sloughed skin off of her left cheek revealing stark white bone, the woman's face was shaped differently than Caiden's mother's. She was too.. round, too rough around the edges. And even in death, there was something about his mother that gave Kael the feeling her beauty was preternatural, a type of beauty that would dominate even the terrifying grip that this disease had on the human form.

But Caiden was trying to force two mismatched pieces of a puzzle together, and no matter what Kael said, he saw only what he wanted to see. "_Stop it!" _He screamed, the noise echoing in the silence. "You're hurting her! Let her go, let her go you fucking bastard!" Caiden acted as if Kael had just spit in his face, a glare of pure hatred causing the grip Kael had on the woman to loosen. He was almost tempted to just let her tear off the younger boy's face like she so wanted to as that seemed to be the only way Caiden would understand. Fingernail-less fingers brushed Caiden's face with every strained claw, angered screeches mixing in with her 'son's' yells and only furthering the chaos.

"Stop, Caiden, please listen to me—"

"Let her go! Let her go, goddamn it!"

"This isn't your fucking mother!"

"You don't know anything, you cynical—"

"God, why won't you listen?!"

Their voices rose to a violent cacophony within Kael's mind and slowly his head began to shake. He would have covered his ears, would have gripped at his hair in some attempt to cover up the sound. "Stop screaming, Caiden.. please.." Images danced through his mind, all zipping by far faster than he could comprehend.

"_Shh, shh it's okay, it was only a nightmare.."_

_A woman, short and sporting thin, faded brown hair seated at the edge of his bed, stroking his hair in a manner that might have been comforting. Only it wasn't. Nothing about this place was. _

"_I want to go home. You're not my mommy. I want mommy! Where is she? Stop lying! Stop lying! Where is my mommy?!"_

_He started thrashing on the small bed, meager, thread-bare cotton sheets falling in a brilliant cascade of white onto the floor. The woman instantly gripped his shoulders only furthering his screaming as a man dressed in a white coat and gripping a syringe emerged from a sliver of light from the hallway. The man was evil. Small body fought against the stronger binds as the sleeve of his pajama top was pulled roughly up over the bicep. Instantly the needle was uncapped and pushed mercilessly beneath the skin. The calming came instantly but just like everything else in this place it was artificial. _

"_Mommy.. Mom—Momma.." His head lolled back and was gingerly supported by the stubby hand of the strange woman. _

The world returned with a _whoosh _of sound, wind, and cold wet rain. Caiden was still screaming bloody murder, reaching out for the woman he believed to be his mother. Jaw clenching, golden eyes narrowed down at the boy. Without another thought, Kael wrapped strong hands around the Infected's neck and, with a single, tight squeeze, silenced her forever. She stilled, yelp caught dead in her throat, and fell off to one side, thankfully providing some peace. The last thing they needed was two unhinged minds. _God, what the hell is wrong with me?_

Kael swore he could see the cogs in Caiden's mind grinding to a halt. Kael's hands shook as he wiped them tenderly on his jeans as if trying to clear away the apparently terrible deed he'd just done. Caiden was in his customary crouching position in an instant, that horrid, familiar growl emanating from deep down in his diaphragm. He was teetering on the edge of insanity already and no doubt this did nothing to help against that.

Swallowing thickly, Kael lowered himself to eyelevel with his accomplice, trying hard to catch the gaze that kept flickering from his face to the female _thing _that had managed to slice what fragile lines they'd just barely started to establish. Trying to get Flea to focus, Kael reached out and carefully gripped Caiden's chin. It was a firm hold, one that would not allow the Flea any leeway to jerk away just as he tried to as soon as he was touched. Kael half expected to be pounced, and that fear remained the only constant in the back of his mind.

"I'm sorry." It was the first thing that Kael could think of, however inappropriate it seemed. They were far beyond simple 'sorries'. But Flea's hardened gaze gradually softened, the tense muscles in his frown melting away in a fraction of a second. His anger had all been a façade, a tough front in some hope of convincing Kael he truly was angry about what had been done. No more words passed between them as Caiden dissolved; face burying itself in Kael's chest with such force that the elder was knocked off balance. Clawed fingers gripped desperately at Kael's jacket as he shook with each brutal sob.

Tugging back the hood, Kael ran his fingers carefully through dark, wet locks, providing comfort in the only way he truly knew how. Though they had their differences, Kael new that he and Caiden were connected on a far deeper level than their superficial dislike of one another. "It.. It'll get better.. I-I promise." It was a lie. It never got better. With nothing else to be said, Kael close his eyes and wrapped his arms around his Flea, wishing he could protect him from the biting reality of the real world.

Maybe coming down here wasn't such a good idea after all.


	9. Rooftops

Author's Note: Hey, guys. I'm sooo sooo sorry about the wait on this chapter, and honestly there are no excuses. I know that I ended this chapter on somewhat of a cliffhanger to make things worse, but the next chapter will be up much, much quicker than this one was to make up for that. Scout's Honor!

* * *

~Caiden's POV~

Last night felt like a distant nightmare, one that Kael and I both wanted to erase from our memories. Embarrassment coated in shame lined my throat, rendering virtually incapable of speech . All words died on my lips, all apologies.

So instead we walked. Him slightly in front of me, each step sounding wet from our night in the rain. I didn't remember falling asleep on the sidewalk, wrapped in an embrace from what seemed like the only other person in the world. I'd awoken to the sharp smell of cigarette smoke—fresh cigarette smoke, unlike the tobacco-y scent that seemed to follow Kael wherever he went—and watch as tendrils of white smoke danced in the flickering streetlights. The sun was waning in the sky by the time my eyes slid into focus, lazy, grey clouds from the storm the night before swimming through the deep, tangerine colored sky. I'd slept clear through the day, it seemed, and a shy sort of guilt urged me up from my lying-down position.

Kael stood a few feet away with his back to me, one arm tucked neatly underneath the other while his free hand brought a half-spent cigarette to his lips. He flicked the ashes into a passing gust of wind, and I watched with muted fascination as they were carried off into oblivion. He didn't immediately speak to me, although I knew he was aware I was awake.

"Sleep well?" I stiffened, the words sounding unnaturally loud in the general silence of our ravaged city. I brushed a shaky hand through matted, black hair, trying my best to smooth it down from the awkward angles in which it had settled sometime during my slumber. I felt like a child in his shadow, instinctively shrinking away from the unreadable aura that leaked from every pore on his body. Something wasn't right with Kael. It hadn't been right since that dream he'd had. Was I finally starting to crack the shell on this mysterious figure? After almost a week with him, I still only knew his name.

Kael turned to me, and instantly I knew that something was wrong.

Those yellow eyes.. they hadn't looked at me with so much misplaced discontent and menacing interest since we first met. I rose to my feet, soaking wet to the bone but that was irrelevant. I stared at him questioningly, watching as the tip of his cigarette glowed bright orange and shrank to a stub as its user finished it off. The moment was tense and foreboding and I almost didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"Okay.. I guess I'll take that as a yes." Kael shrugged, tossing the cigarette bud into the rain-drenched storm drain along the curb. He took a step toward me, and then another until we were face-to-face, the familiar scent of tobacco weaving around me like the slithering cords of a snake. I felt constricted. "So.. I've been thinking about last night, Flea, and I've realized something. You and I are at our wit's end. No.. seriously. I'm having fucking Back to the Future flashbacks and you're.. well, you're losing your mind." He grinned lightly, amused by his own joke as he usually was. It did nothing to diffuse the tense situation, however.

"So.. I've decided what's a better way to relax than to play a little game, hm?"

Instantly, every muscle in my body tensed. That foreboding tripled and then quadrupled as Kael took a step back away from me. He was creating distance, moving back and toward the building beside the one we'd spent the night in front of. "Game?" I heard myself question, the hint of uneasiness clear beneath my words. There were no such things as 'games' in this world.. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, briefly contemplating shedding the bluish black hoodie that I'd traded my original one for when Kael had decided to raid a section of Riverdale Mall in search of living meat. There had been no one there, of course—holing up in malls was the idea of fools and Hollywood directors—but at least I'd gotten myself a nicer hoodie.

"Yes, game. You might want to pay attention so you know how to win it, hm?" Kael's voice sliced through my thoughts, the bitterly sarcastic tone as corrosive as battery acid. I watched him with a wary eye as he reached slowly into the pocket of his jeans and, with a small 'tah-dah', produced the slightly rain-damaged, glossy photo of my sister.

I think for a moment the world stopped. My heart, my head.. everything. It was like a shot straight through the chest, painful and sharp, and I swore I felt myself stagger. That picture.. _that _was my only motivation for staying in control, hell for _living. _We hadn't seen a living soul in what felt like years, but every time I looked down at that broadly grinning face complete with two missing teeth, I felt as if they were all still alive somewhere. Waiting this out, waiting for me..

"Give it back, Kael." I feigned disinterest, but inside I was crumbling. _No. Kael, don't do this to me.. _What happened to the Kael of last night? It'd felt like then he'd cared for me, if only a little.

"Ah, ah, ah.." He continued, wagging his finger and giving the picture a slight wave so that it fluttered in the small breeze. "This isn't a very hard game to win, don't worry. All you've got to do is..

catch me."

The words still rung in the air and in my ears before Kael had disappeared.

Anger.

Red hot, blinding anger. It was overwhelming. I watched him take off into the sky as if he were being reeled up by a proud fisherman and disappear, and all at once I succumbed to the anger.

The voice.. it wasn't back quite yet, no, but I was afraid that if I let myself be controlled for very long by such hostile emotions, it wouldn't take too much time for it to return.

_He's teasing me.. _

I knew it. He knew it. But still.. I wanted to win whatever fucked up little game he was playing with me. I looked left and then right, assessing my options, before settling on an alleyway created by two buildings built practically atop one another. Kael would expect me to immediately pursue him, but what he did not seem to realize was that beneath it all, I was a hunter, a stalker. I was made for _games_ like this. I wanted to do what he _least _expected me to do. I squeezed down the alley and, about halfway through, I knelt. The power gathered in my legs almost instantly, and for a second I was caught off-guard. "I'm never going to get used to this.." I murmured aloud to myself. The idea of _jumping _like I did was still so new, so unsettling. But still.. I could dwell on disturbing matters later. I had a game to win here; after all, I was tired of Kael thinking he could toy with me whenever he pleased.

Like a rubber band snapping, the tension in my thighs and calves instantly released and the edge of the building suddenly looked a whole lot closer than it was before. My human instinct was to flinch, to cover my head and face to protect me from the imminent crash.

_Weak.. insuFF-erable, frail, fra-GILE.. _

The sensation was.. horrifying. I could feel the voice stirring, probing my mind, but no longer was it screaming what my instincts reflected. No more one word commands. It was.. insulting me. Each word stressed, hissed by a foreign tongue. For a second I forgot I was suspended in midair, and perhaps that was what saved my life. Hands extended automatically when I involuntarily relinquished control of my actions, dangerously sharp claws digging into the rough brick and easily hauling the weight of my body up and over onto the roof.

My vision sharpened, untouched by the cover of darkness, and instantly I zeroed in on Kael who still stood on the far side of the structure searching the ground below for me. A thrill ran through my body, all senses instantly heightening. Every downy hair was so very, very receptive and the features of the night were all so strangely clear.. the light shifting of the wind, the distant calls of an unknown bird.

_Irrelevant. _

Kael was my target. Kael was my prey.

In that moment, it all became so clear. I was no longer in control. I'd awoken the voice, pissed it off no less. It was going to kill Kael, my last thread of sanity and _in_sanity in this entire situation. _No, not prey. Can't hurt him. Don't hurt him. _I pleaded as my body knelt into attack position once more. Surely Kael could hear the inhuman noises rising from deep within the back of my throat and sense that something wasn't quite right, couldn't he?

I wanted to strangle Kael for being so.. so stupid! He himself had called me 'psycho'. I'd finally regained some of my humanity, but just like that it'd been snatched away. Last night swam lazily in the back of my mind. Never had I seen him so concerned for me.. so.. scared. He'd comforted me while my mind warped and bent into unidentifiable shapes before it all faded to blackness.

But just like that, we were back to square one.

Curious eyes locked with my own as he turned and stared at me for a moment, eyebrows slightly knitted. In that instant, I was in the airborne again, a piercing screech permeating the air between us both.

So this was how it would end. I winced on the inside, waiting for the killing blow, for my body to collide with his and either knock us both over the edge of the building and onto the unforgiving ground below, or for me to pounce and tackle him like I wanted to and, in a fiery rage, reduce him to nothing more than bloodied rags.

But all I felt was asphalt. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Kael perform a rather skilled roll and right himself, confusion written all over his bewildered expression. "What the hell are you doing..?" He demanded, starting to finally realize what was going on no doubt based on how hard I'd jumped. This was no longer a harmless game of tag.

Claws dug deep into the material of the roof, pebbles and other small stonesbiting into the soft pads of my fingers as I braced for another pounce. The demon within me would not rest until its target had been terminated.

My shoulder resisted, however. It was a distant pain that was slowly eating its way into my consciousness with every tensing of muscle in that area. Despite the unbelievable rate at which my body was healing itself, the wound on my back was still relatively sensitive. The small scratches and cuts around the large bite wound were all distant memories by now, but the true injury, the chunk of painful flesh missing required a tireless effort from my body, one that all of this jumping no doubt hindered. But even still I could feel the skin stretching, tearing as new blood threatened to start flowing. Perhaps this was what saved Kael's life. I felt myself stumble and hesitate as discomfort flared, the pounce only a fraction of as powerful as it should have been.

Whimpering in annoyance, I watched as Kael bridged the distance between the building adjacent to the one we currently fought on with an expert catch via his tongue. Once a safe distance away, he turned to me and heaved a frustrated breath, cupping his hands over his mouth as he prepared to speak.

"Flea, this was supposed to be a fucking _game._ What the hell is your problem?" He shouted. I wanted to reply, to desperately explain that this wasn't me. _I _wasn't a vicious killer. For the first time, I could see through the eyes of the.. thing.. that dwelled within me, something I almost didn't wish would happen. I wanted the long, blank gaps in my memory. At least then I would have nothing to own up to, nothing to be responsible for. I was a silent observer, a prisoner of my own mind.

Offering no response, I growled almost mockingly at him. The thoughts I had, the pure insanity that left me reeling was what this thing was listening to, this _other me_. It leapt, strong and accurate, and landed only feet from where Kael stood. I could see the gamut of emotions dancing across his face as he contemplated the choices presented to him. Keep running..? Confront me..?

All the while I paced back and forth like a caged animal, sizing him up, allowing the anger I felt to smolder and burn into a festering heat. Would my entire life be like this?

"I don't want to hurt you, Caiden.." Whispered Kael, a grim solemnity in his voice. He watched my every move, golden eyes burning with an intensity I didn't think a person as laid-back as Kael was capable of. My answer to him came swift, and mentally I clenched. The air whistled about my hoodie as once again I was airborne, targeting Kael as if my very life depended on it. _Move, Kael.. please.. _

I'd never truly felt his tongue before, as strange as that may seem. He'd brandished it several times to me like a proud trophy, even used it as a leash of sorts to keep me from doing what he disliked, but never had I paid attention to its unique texture. It was rougher than I expected, more leathery like raw sinew versus the usual soft smoothness of a regular tongue. It snaked around my left thigh at first, winding upward like a deadly vine as it wrapped around my abdomen and neck.

Despite the immediate rage associated with retaliation from Kael, there was something I noticed about his grip on me.. There was no pain of constriction like I knew he was capable of. I.. I vaguely remembered watching him strangle one of the creatures that had taken over the city, the fog surrounding the mysterious wound on my shoulder slowly starting to clear. He could _kill _me with a slight tightening of the part of his tongue surrounding my neck.. and honestly, I wouldn't blame him for doing it.

Eyes narrowed in concentration, Kael did tighten his grip a minuscule amount, but it soon became apparent why. Using the momentum from my own pounce, he tugged me—still in midair—safely over his head. I'd overshot my target. That was all the monster roared.

I only saw a glimpse of him before I hit the pavement hard and rolled over and over again, flashes of the cloudless sky and gravelly roofing sending me into a sense o whiplashed vertigo before I finally slid to a stop. My body felt weightless and numb for the briefest of seconds, the blood all rushing to my head at once. A thought.. a beautiful thought that was my own filled the emptiness, and it started to seem that this crash had brought me back to my senses.

But there was a command I did not issue. I felt it first.. felt my shaky arms pulling forth from their splayed positions to support my body weight as I wheezed and coughed, trying to regain breath that had been stolen upon impact. I turned, painstakingly slowly to stare at him, lips drawing back from pointed teeth. It was still there.. that hollow thought had been but the product of the initial shock, but I was not in control.

My shoulder throbbed in unison with the general pain throughout the rest of my being, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered to this animal. It would attack relentlessly until either it or its prey was dead.

I remained in my crouched position, injured arm hovering an inch or so off the ground like a wounded beast. My anger toward Kael had multiplied tenfold from the throw, and, as our eyes locked, I found myself wanting to look away. I could not meet his gaze.. No.. the monster could easily but I wished I could close my eyes. He looked so disappointed.. so hurt. _This is your fault, you stupid bastard. _I hoped he knew it, too. This was punishment for pushing me to my wit's end.

The monster closed the distance between it and Kael through slow, careful steps and came to a stop about thirty feet in front of him. Mentally I willed him to run.. if he fled, he could get away. There was only so much more jumping I could do with this injury without incapacitating myself in the long run. Both the monster and I knew this, and this was the reason why it was determined to make this kill swiftly.

Kael did not move.

The monster stared at him, lips drawn back from maliciously pointed teeth as it let out a guttural warning growl. Somewhere deep within it craved the chase that it knew it could not hunt of a kill was half the satisfaction, although now it was confused by Kael's defiance. It sniffed the air for something peculiar, some explanation.

Finding none, I prepared to jump. This would be it. The Leap of Death, so to speak. Nails gripping the gravel for leverage, I propelled myself into the air for what I knew would be the final time. The sensation of not only flying but being one hundred percent in control of my flight was nothing short of overwhelming, and I wished I could enjoy it under different circumstances.

The distance between us went from thirty to zero in seconds. I was mesmerized by his blank expression as I neared from above. _Kill me, Kael.. Kill me or I will kill you.. _The pain I felt that came from within was far more intense than everything I'd felt so far on my hellish journey put together. It was the pain of losing a friend—my _only _friend—at the hands of something I could not control. I waited for the sharp sting of that tongue being wrapped around and snapping my throat, for the constriction of it around my midsection. But there was nothing.

The power behind our collision was enough knock Kael from his feet. He hit the ground hard and slid on his back all while I maintained my position on top of him. There was an arrogant sense of victory that the monster flaunted as if it were teasing me. I felt sick.

"Remember this?" Kael's voice was low and steady despite his predicament. Each breath he took was short and shallow and from my vantage point I could tell he was fighting away another coughing fit. I was on top of him, legs straddling his waist and claws armed and pointed, ready to rip apart everything that made Kael what he was. I did not want to feed so much as to destroy, to steal away a life for no real reason.

But there she was. For a moment, for one blood-curdling, terrifying moment, I thought the grinning face in the water-logged photograph was real. True innocence stared up at the monster from the picture that Kael brandished like a weapon, the soft grey of Casey's gaze slicing easily through crimson and straight into jade. She continued to smile her toothy grin even as she stared evil in the face, uttering no words but murmuring to me everything that I needed to hear.

_Find me. _

Those cavernous grey eyes were suddenly so, so dead and I was screaming an inhuman scream that echoed off the buildings and all around. The monster knew.. It knew that the picture had something to do with its steady loss of control and suddenly it wasn't so cocky anymore. "What happened to finding your sister? You let this thing control you, Caiden! This isn't you!" I tried focusing on his face, tried reminding myself that Kael was not the enemy that I perceived him to be. But the battle I was fighting started to feel more and more hopeless as I felt myself slowly retreating back to that cold, dark corner of my mind. All of this was confirmed by a swift, clawed swipe that not only sliced Kael's hand but sent Casey dancing away in the post-stormy breeze.

It was in that moment when I truly felt like giving up. It was as if my last thread of humanity had finally been severed, and there was nothing I could do about it. I saw the recognition on Kael's face, and golden eyes widen an exponential amount. _Had his plan failed?_ They read, and if I could have I would've laughed. What he'd done seemed so cliché.. Show the monster something from his past life, something he cared about, and all will be fine again. Perhaps it worked in bad horror movies, but I was an exception.. at least that was what it felt like.

Hand dripping fresh blood, Kael reached up and gripped either side of my face in a touch so tender that for a moment I was taken aback. The sleeves of his jackets slid back just a touch, revealing the faded markings of _my _claws. I'd hurt him so much, and through it all, he'd been there. From the beginning.. _He _had been there.

The touch, however, was met with resistance. I felt so much like a wild animal being held down, the angry emotions flaring and dancing throughout my body in the guise of adrenaline. No longer was the grip inviting, and I fought against it, tugging and pulling, wanting to get free. All of this.. all of it confused beast, and the desire to kill faded and transformed into a powerful want to escape. It'd announced Kael to be a serious threat when he and I first met, and now it seemed to be reevaluating that decision as being the correct one.

"Focus on the sound of my voice. You can beat it, Caiden. You're stronger than it is!"

_I'm trying! _I wanted to scream back in frustration, but the only sounds I made were the distressed screeches.

_Help me. _It was Casey's whisper. _Help.. Please.. _My parents' voices mixed in with her single, tiny one, clawing at the insides of my already broken mind, encouraging the chaos that already existed there. More and more cries joined in until it was an indecipherable whine of a million voices that rose louder and louder in my ears until I felt the words replacing the screams that left my lips, although they maintained its desperation and volume.

"Help me! _Help-" _Over and over again I bellowed, the phrase so high-pitched and shrilly that I could hardly recognize it as my own voice.

And then there was silence.

Everything stopped. My shouts. The voices. The rapid jerks from a body that I was not in control of.

It was Kael. What I saw.. No rather, what I _felt _had stunned me into a silence born of simple disbelief. One hand propping him up to shorten the distance between us, while the other gripped a good handful of the hair on the back of my head to keep me from pulling away, he'd pressed our lips together in pure desperation.

The warmth seemed to radiate from everywhere and nowhere. I couldn't move, couldn't close my eyes as Kael had done. His face looked so passive despite the situation as if we were two lovers simply sharing a casual liplock after a lovely evening out together, and somewhere in the back of my mind I took note of a tiny freckle underneath his left eye that looked so out of place on his otherwise fair complexion.

The cause of the sudden silence within me was incomprehensible, and I won't even begin to pretend to understand it. But I basked in the warmth that was Kael and only Kael, wholly grateful for his presence. Everything about him seemed so vivid: the faint smell of tobacco that followed him around like a second shadow, the tufts of unruly brown-blonde hair that refused the conform to the rest of his head..

But just as quickly as it'd started, it was over. Kael drew back abruptly and started to cough, the hand he had previously been using to hold me in place now covering his mouth as he groaned in impatient annoyance. All I could do was stare, distantly fearing that the nightmare wasn't over yet. Despite this, I knew that the fatigue, the pain from my shoulder.. all of these things were quiet indicators that the beast had retreated, that my body was my own again. Instead of relief, I felt only wooziness, a lightheadedness associated only with inexplicable exhaustion.

Kael's coughing spell passed, and the air filled with a pregnant, almost peaceful calm. He assessed me with an unsure eye at first, before he uttered with a slightly tired grin, "Green means go." And gently flicked the tip of my nose. It was so strange how quickly he could switch between somber and playful.

He looked me up and down, one eyebrow arching slightly higher than the other and it was then that I realized I was still on top of him. The position felt compromised and awkward.. especially after.. what had just happened. It felt stupid to care about something that should be so frivolous and small, especially in light of what we'd both just gone through, but I was embarrassed and confused anyway as I slid off of him and instantly brought my knees up to my chest.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that. Didn't think it would work. Glad it did, though." Kael mumbled, words muffled as he sucked on the side of his hand where I'd scratched him. It didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, but I knew that it had to hurt like a bitch. I didn't immediately answer him as I tried to understand where he was going with all of this and in spite of the tiring fight that left me feeling quite close to passing out, I allowed myself to smile as well. The gesture felt so out of plac e. "So.. Uh.. this count as our first date, then?"

Kael turned to me, caramel eyes narrowed before he broke into unbridled laughter that was a welcome replacement to the screams that had previously echoed around us. It was then that I decided that, next to Casey's voice, Kael's laugh was the most wonderful sound in the world.


	10. Sanctuary

AN: Yeep.. here it is.. *Dodges rotten tomatoes* I could give you a million sorries and excuses, but that'd probably take way too long. I actually just started on this chapter in January considering my last laptop died and had to get a new one for Christmas so TECHNICALLY it should have been out a lot faster? xD Sorry, guys. This chapter is less action-oriented, but I promise you the next/last couple won't be. ;] Anyway sit back, relax, and enjoy!

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"Do you always play the part of 'Shy Little Virgin', or is that just your MO when you're around me?"

The irritation in Kael's voice was nearly tangible, that icy cold stare just an unnerving for Caiden now as it had been when they first met.

But it wasn't as if Caiden could blame Kael for being annoyed. It seemed that either one of them was in a constant state of conflict—with it usually being, of course, Caiden—over something or another that was so irrelevant when put into perspective with everything else that was going on.

Receiving nothing in response, Kael paused and arched an eyebrow, expression shifting smoothly from peeved to pensive. Golden eyes searched Caiden's downtrodden face for some sort of reaction to his comment and, with a sigh, he relented. He knew that he was being too hard on the younger of their twisted duo, especially considering it was _his _fault Caiden no longer had his photograph of his little sister.

"You know, it's fine. I get it. Really, I do." Kael said, shrugging his shoulders in light exasperation and turning to look instead at the steadily rising sun. He knew that he could be cynical, could make some sarcastic remark about how uptight and spoiled people like Caiden were, but he opted not to. After all, it'd only been a couple of hours since Flea had nearly killed him. Hardly seemed like enough time to shift back into their normal back and forth routine. Besides, it would appear that his little Flea was too involved in his own internal upset to worry about what was going on with Kael anyway.

Kael knew that he could say that it had only been a kiss, that Caiden should man up and stop acting like the virgin he'd been accused of, but even with the world ending, somehow Flea found it in himself to overthink it.

So instead of talking, Kael occupied his lips with smoking.

He plucked his last cigarette from its carton and tossed the packaging away. He couldn't hide the anger in his actions—the angry flip of his lighter, the first deep drags on his cigarette—and hell, he wasn't going to try to. Yes, he felt guilty for losing Casey's picture, but Caiden had nearly demolished him in response for fuck's sake.. No, so help him God, he wouldn't turn this into a Caiden pity party.

Tilting his head slightly backward, Kael blew the cloud of suffocating smoke into the freezing, early morning air, but the gesture was immediately followed by an episode of gut-wrenching coughs that never failed to put him in a foul mood if he wasn't already in one.

"You think they're dead."

It was a statement, not a question. Kael didn't turn toward Caiden, he didn't need to. Instead, he placed his cigarette securely in place and sucked, the orange glow of the tip lasting an inordinately long time as it slowly shrank. Despite himself, his eyes slid to their corners, meeting only briefly green that burned with such despaired intensity that Kael had to look away.

"Why are you still here, then, Kael?" Caiden continued, stepping in front of Kael so that, for once, he initiated the forced eye contact. He didn't know why he was so upset with Kael, but the frustration about everything had reached an unbearable level within him, and Kael hadn't helped it. Why are you staying with me if you think I'm chasing a lost cause?"

"You know, I was pretty damn sure that I made that obvious last night. Guess not." Kael murmured and cocked his head, huffing a forced, humorless laugh. He should have been expecting this. They were both too fucked up to worry about anything other than staying alive. This wasn't some sappy romance movie, after all. Real life is brutal.

Caiden took a step closer, eyes narrowed in an incredulous jeer that seemed so out of place on his face. "But you don't even know me. Hell, I don't even know _you._ If none of this-" He gestured around them both to the chaos, the destruction. "-would have happened, you and I would have never even crossed paths. I mean, we've been together for how long now? I don't even know your last name, Kael. Or if _Kael _is even your real name, while we're on the subject.."

Trailing off, Caiden closed his eyes, claws carefully avoiding pallid skin as the pads of his index and thumb gently massaged the bridge of his nose. Things were shifting too quickly for him, words were moving too fast through his brain. He knew that he was finding problems where there were none, but he was running from a very possible reality that he was not ready to face yet and focusing all of his attention on Kael for now was the best way to avoid it all. _They aren't dead.. _

Kael should be famous by now for his patience, something he rarely exhibited until he met Caiden. This was a delicate situation—it had been since the beginning, but that infamous patience was starting to wear thin. "What the hell do you want from me, Caiden?" There was a raw exasperation in his voice, something that Kael was unable to hide any longer. Anger seeped into his normally unreadable expression and, though he made no threatening movements, Caiden shrank slightly away. It was simply a hardening in cold, yellow eyes that produced the reaction as well as the second thoughts that his Flea was suddenly having.

"You want the story of my life? Is that it? You want to hear the pathetic tale of The Little Engine that Couldn't, hm? You know what? Come here," Kael hated the flinch that he felt as he gripped Caiden's upper arm and started toward a nearby dangling fire escape teetering precariously five or so feet in the air.

With a small jump, Kael caught onto the last rain-slicked, metal rung of the rusted ladder and hoisted himself up the rest of the way. Gazing down at the hesitating Caiden from the landing, Kael gestured for him to follow. "Come on. I'm going to give you what you want." The metal groan of the ladder bearing weight and clanking of rubber soles confirmed that his request had been granted.

A small, sad smile tugged at his lips, but Kael said nothing else as he turned and ascended the noisy steps two-by-two up to the very top floor toward the roof. His luck with rooftops hadn't been the best as of late, but third time was the charm, wasn't it? _No, it's forth time's the charm, dumbass. _

Laughing quietly to himself, Kael fixed his shoe on the sill of a window situated at the very top floor of the establishment a few feet below his destination and climbed the rest of the way up over the lip and onto the very top of the building. The early morning carried with it the dying wisps of a dead city, the eye-watering black smoke having simmered down to mere curls that kissed the air every now and then in the distance. Aside from the distant grunts and growls of the things down below, everything was uncomfortably silent. Kael almost missed the sirens and panic. At least then there was _life. _

Kael did not break his gaze with the city as Caiden came up beside him. He seemed almost entranced by the carnage, and for a second Caiden wasn't sure if Kael was even aware of his presence. Finally, he broke the silence.

"I moved around a lot as a kid, you know. Technically, I'm not even supposed to be in Pennsylvania right now. We were just visiting—me and my parents. Here for a month or so while my Dad did his job and my Mom and I rented some cheap little apartment.. I mean, I was born and bred in Maryland—And yes, Kael is my real name while we're on the subject of origin and shit. But I spent so much of my childhood in California, Texas, New York, and of course the lovely Pennsylvania that it was hard to call any place 'home'. I don't know why he insisted we traveled with him.." Kael trailed off, trying to make sense of all the words that wanted to rush out of his mouth all at once.

Then there was irritation.

"You know what? I don't want to tell a sob story any more than you want to listen to one I'm sure, so let's get this over with—"

"No, I want to hear it. I mean might as well, right?" Caiden interrupted, placing what he thought was a comforting hand on Kael's shoulder. But instantly, the muscles in Kael's jaw went rigid, every inch of him filled with an unidentifiable sort of tension. But, he allowed the touch for the moment.

"Why the hell does any of this even matter? You and I both know that what happened to us in the past certainly doesn't apply to now. Just look around you—everything is dead. Everything.. Everyone.. all dead. This is what happens when man plays God." Kael's tone was chilling, unnaturally serious and somber from the likes of him. Every hypersensitive hair on Caiden's body stood on end, bristling with an uneasiness that he was not used to. He knew that he'd been treading on eggshells as soon as he brought the topic up to the snarkier of the two, but now it felt like those eggshells had transformed into hot coals.

Allowing his hand to slide back into place on the damp cement that made up the lining of the roof, Caiden fixed his gaze on a fluttering leaf down below, trying to ignore the former inhabitants of the city as they ambled in and out of his field of vision. He paused, searching for the right words, before speaking, "I heard this saying one time. It went something like, 'where we come from is just as important as where we're going'. Somehow, I think it applies here. Even just a little."

Despite the anger and the upset and the dismay, Kael found it in himself to laugh. He shook his head, running a hand loosely through mostly dried dark-blonde locks, and sighed. "You know, ten points to you, Flea. You always find a way to mix humanity into every situation. I guess that's the main difference between you and me. It was so easy for me to give up my life before all of this.. Not that I would call it much of a life to begin with.. I know, I know. You want to know what the hell I'm going on about." He stopped speaking while he fixed both legs over the edge of the roof and sat, kicking his shoes rhythmically one after the other against the ancient brick.

"Let's see.. My folks, right? Yeah, they were nice, I guess, from what I can remember. They were pretty young when they had me—mid-twenties or something, I don't know—but they made sure I was taken care of and all that.." His fist suddenly clenched, nails scraping on the concrete, and the veins shining through the pale skin of the back of his hand become prominent, soft green snake trails. "Then they had to go and die and ruin everything."

Caiden had been expecting it, but a swirl of emotions hit him all at once—sympathy for Kael, worry for his own parents, helplessness..

"Kael, I—" Caiden tried, but the other boy cut him off before he could continue.

"No, stop. I don't want your 'I'm sorry's. Not yet. 'Cause I haven't even told you the most fucked up part yet," Kael turned toward him, a slight misplaced grin upturning his lips and a dry, humored tone in his voice that made Caiden's skin crawl. "These people came and got me, I guess CPS or something, from my parents' friend's house a couple days afterward. I was only, what, seven, eight when it happened so they did that stupid slow-talk thing adults do when they're talking to kids and have to explain something serious. God, what'd that bitch say again..? Something like, "your mommy and daddy are with Jesus now." Kael laughed throatily, but his fist curled tighter.

"I lost it. I seriously did. I went fucking nuts. Did you know that you could be fucking _institutionalized _as a kid? I stopped talking, barely ate. I gave up on myself and as a result so did everybody else. Spent couple years dealing with group therapy and shit before they finally got sick of me and stuck me in a foster home with an old couple who didn't know what to do with me. The night I turned fourteen, I left and this—" He made a sweeping motion of the city that surrounded them—" has been my home ever since. So yes, Caiden, I know what you're going through. Believe me, I really do. But I accepted it, and now it's time you did too."

Kael grinned and he jumped, landing a second or so later down below on the sidewalk. Several startled heads turned his way but a cursory sniff from their owners deterred their interest almost immediately. Kael was good at hiding what he was really feeling, Caiden would give him that much. He followed suit, jogging a bit to keep up as Kael started down the sidewalk. They walked for a few minutes in silence, each processing what had just been said.

"I don't think you've accepted anything." Caiden's voice was quiet, but it sliced through the ambient noise. He was testing the waters, seeing just how much Kael was still affected by the subject. "If you had, you wouldn't have nightmares about it. I'm sorry, Kael, but I can't just bury everything like you have. I want closure—whether it turns out being for the better or for the worse."

Caiden looked apprehensive after he spoke, as if waiting to be struck or yelled at. But Kael simply kept walking, eyes straightforward and arms crossed loosely. "I didn't expect you to get it. It's fine." He sounded tired, as if simply talking took away his energy. Exhaling a deep breath through his nose, Kael abruptly began to change the subject.

"I don't think we can sta—"

Caiden held up a hand, head canted toward the broken, boarded windows of what was once a convenience store that sat squished between two looming buildings. Shifting a bit closer, he placed his ear up against the soggy wood of one of the boards. "Do you hear that?" His voice was breathless with strange excitement and confusion, and Kael moved closer as well. Eyes narrowed in concentration, he could just barely make out the staticy voices of someone speaking over a radio. "I thought everyone was dead.."

Caiden grabbed Kael's hand before either of them could respond, and jogged down the tight alleyway toward the back of the building. He didn't know what he was running toward or why, but it'd been so long since he'd heard or seen another living—or at least sentient—creature aside from Kael that he welcomed the voice. All he could think about was a lead toward his parents' whereabouts.

In the back of the store was a larger gap between the buildings for loading trucks and garbage bins, but there were also far less of the creatures around to respond to the sound of splintering wood and breaking glass as the dark-haired boy broke the glass window of the door to the back entrance of the store and, reaching carefully through, unlocked it from the inside.

He did it all so swiftly that Kael didn't even have time to ask why. Why were they ducking into the back end of a dark store, a store that reeked of spoiled food stuffs and carried with it a stillness that made Kael even more uneasy than he'd felt before coming inside. But Caiden had never released his hand and the steady pressure was more than a bit comforting as they ventured further inside the pitch blackness, toward the sound of the intermittent voice over the radio.

They passed a small kitchenette that contained everything but a stove, and directly ahead lay what could only be the break room. An eerie red glow filled the room from the large, outdated CB radio sitting on the table. A long, three or four foot antenna was aimed toward the door and the backdoor entrance, having moved the radio as close to the door as they dared for fear of drawing the creatures.

"There's nobody here." Caiden whispered, eyes fixated on the radio. A few moments passed, but there was only static. "They left in a hurry. Probably why it was so easy to get inside from the back." He gestured toward the plates of barely touched, now-unidentifiable food that sat around the table with a swift jerk of his chin.

"Ugh, it stinks in here. Don't know if you were hoping to find a snack , but even the zombies think twice about eating under these conditions. Let's go." Kael started to pull Caiden back toward the light of the open door, grip tight and palms slick. Dark, enclosed spaces were not his idea of a good time, but the crackly voice over the radio made them both stop.

"..food, shelter.."

"Safety from.. hurt..here.."

They exchanged looks. "I heard these things don't work very well indoors.." Kael offered, and Caiden didn't hesitate. Grabbing the black box and mouth piece in one hand and the monster of an antenna in the other, he maneuvered carefully back toward the door, anxiety peaking as the cold air and the clearer, warm voice of a woman assaulted his senses all at once.

"I repeat to anyone.. there: My name is Lieutenant Clara. I am the leade.. of a large military-led camp located in Manningfield, … north of Riverdal.. We can offer you food, wat.. , shelter, and most ..portant protection from the Infected.. til rescue arrives. If you are hearing this message, please.. pond. I will be.. broadcasting on this ..annel nonsto.. for the.. two days, but after that we will ..e airlifted to.. mainland.. we.. are sanctuary."

The voice cut off, but there was nothing else it need say. Kael stared at the radio blankly, knowing what would come next. It was the magical answer to all their problems.. at least it would be if they were human. It would be the beginning of a problem for the two of them.

"They're there." Caiden whispered firmly, placing the radio on the ground and switching it off lest it attract more unwanted attention. Receiving no response from Kael, he turned, pleading jade meeting conflicted gold. His own gaze softened and he reached up, cupping Kael's face as tenderly as he could with the threat of half-inch long, razor sharp claws. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I was out of line. I know you've been to hell and back—fuck, we both have. I just.. I _have _to know, Kael. But I'm not doing anything without you."

Everything always rested on him. Kael leaned into the touch but closed his eyes. He pushed everything he felt all the stirred-up emotions down and away—something that he'd grown to be quite an expert at doing—and smirked a light smirk. Lips parting, his tongue slipped through noiselessly and lapped at the tip of Caiden's nose. He chuckled as Caiden recoiled and sighed in light defeat, "Manningfield, huh? I was getting tired of Riverdale, anyway. We're going to need a ride, though, Flea. Preferably something with two wheels."


End file.
